The story of my memories starts from you
by Dinz
Summary: Oliver Queen was in love with the cute blond for a long time. Even after she married Ray Palmer, Oliver couldn't fell out of love with her. One night, again spent drowning in liquor, his life was drastically changed when he was involved in an accident. That was the first time he saw her after one year of her marriage. And she was struggling for her life in a crashed car.
1. Chapter 1

**The story of my memories starts from you…**

 **Prologue**

The last thing he remembered was her ocean blue eyes, staring at him in a car that was crashed and stumbled upside down. Asking him silently, 'Why did you do this to me?'

….

Oliver woke up at once. His hair was drenched with sweat. He was trembling. His whole body ached. He looked around. He was in a hospital bed. Starling city sky was dark and it was raining outside his window. The rain drops were thrashing against the window, like they wanted to come inside and punish him for what he had done.

Oliver's eyes fell on the figure that was huddled in a chair at the dark corner of the room.

Thea.

His sister. She looked tired. Her little figure all covered by a blanket.

When is today? How much time has he spent on this bed? Unconscious?

Oliver tried to remember what happened. Everything was blurred in his head. Yet he could remember her eyes. The last look they gave him before shutting out their light.

What happened to her? Is she alive? Has he killed her?

Felicity…

His Felicity… No, she was not his.

What happened to Ray? Sara?

Are they alive?

Oliver felt the darkness taking him over again. He was going to the land of death again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 01 – Oliver's POV**

Oliver woke up with an aching body. He tried to take a feel around him. Both of his hands were connected to tubes. His heart beat was reflected by a machine too. He tried to move his head a bit. That move got him dizzy again. And it hurt like hell. He groaned.

"Oh, Ollie. You are awake. Thank god." Thea's words came to him first. The small brunette girl touched his temple and combed through his short hair.

"The-a…" Oliver started.

"Sh shhh… Doctors' orders are to rest Ollie. You were in a terrible accident." Thea whispered.

"Fe-li-ci-ty…" Oliver wanted to know what happened to her.

"Ollie, please."

"Tell me Thea." Oliver tried to get up but Thea's firm hand stopped him. Oliver groaned again.

Thea sighed.

"She is alive. But her situation is not good, Ollie."

She is alive. That's the only thing Oliver wanted to know. He fell on to his pillow.

Then he drifted again to his sleepy world.

…

Next time Oliver woke up. It was to Diggle's voice.

"They say it's bad. Oliver was spared because he was not in the driving seat. Captain Lance tried to put the fault to Oliver, but Walter stepped up and reminded him that it was his daughter, Sara who was drunk driving, not Oliver. Lance really wanted to press charges on Oliver. After all Felicity is his step-daughter."

Oliver remembered the details of the accident in blurry pieces.

He and Sara drank until final hours of the day. He was drunken than Sara. Oliver had tried to call a cab but Sara insisted that she could drive. She wanted to drive his brand new car. So, he let her. They were singing and laughing like maniacs.

Suddenly a truck came towards them and Sara cut the car and nearly survived without running out of the road. Oliver shouted at her to slow the vehicle and she turned to him and smiled sweetly while speeding again.

Oliver saw the mini car coming from the small alley and before he could warn, Sara shrieked and tried to hit brakes.

They could feel the car hitting them and the mini car turned violently and stumbled upside down. Their car went out of the road and hit another vehicle which was stopped at the pavement. Oliver was thrown out of the car and on the road. He remembered him turning his head towards the mini car and seeing the familiar blue eyes.

'Felicity'

Felicity was stuck in the car, upside down. Her eyes were turned to him. Her eyes were screaming silently, asking one question from him.

'Why did you do this to me?'

Oliver tried to get up and failed. The pain coming from his leg was too much. He tried again and again failed. He never looked away from her face. Then he saw it. The brightness leaving her eyes. A blood trail was running through her cheek. Her head is hurt. Oliver's mind told him. And her body was hanging by the seat belt in an uncomfortable angle.

Oliver felt a blood trail on his temple. And dizziness hit him. Last thing he remembered before going in to darkness was her eyes closing, giving up on life, her face paled and partially covered in blood.

"Ollie, you are awake again." Oliver came back from the memories at Thea's words.

"Hi, speedy."

"Oogh. The worst nick name." Thea smiled.

"How is Sara?" Oliver asked. Thea's face darkened. She glanced at Diggle.

"The accident was terrible Oliver." Diggle answered instead of Thea.

"I was there Dig. I know that it was terrible. But, how is Sara? Was anyone else hurt except me, Sara and Felicity?" Oliver asked impatiently.

"The situation is not good, Oliver. Sara was sandwitched between your car and another vehicle. She is in Intensive Care Unit. She hasn't gained conscious yet. Doctors are afraid that she would go into a coma." Diggle said.

Yet Oliver sensed that there was something else they were not telling him.

"What are you hiding, Dig? I know you. You are not telling me the whole story. How is Felicity? She is alive. Isn't she?" Oliver felt panic rising in his chest. The machine connected to his heart started beeping erratically. His breathing became hard.

"No, no, Oliver. Felicity is alive. Don't worry man. She is alive." Diggle tried to calm him.

Oliver tried to take deep breaths, to calm down his panic attack. He felt Thea's small hands cradling his right hand. She held in to him like a life line. He had to be there for his sister. He was the only one she had in this world.

After a few minutes Oliver was as well as he could be in a situation like this.

"You are awake, Mr. Queen. I'm Dr. Harrison. I'm the one who examined you." A doctor entered the room and greeted Oliver.

"Hello doctor, can I know my state? When will I be able to leave here?" Oliver asked.

The doctor looked at him kindly.

"You can leave when you are better, Mr. Queen. And your state? Let me see. Your leg is broken. You had a mild concussion. Four of your ribs are bruised badly. You had lost so much blood before the paramedics approach you. Apparently they thought other three people who were in the accident needed the priority. And they were right, if not she hadn't been taken to the hospital immediately, we would have lost Mrs. Palmer too."

'Mrs. Palmer?... oh… Felicity.' her name is changed now.

But, did the doctor say other three people?

"Who else was there except me, Sara and Felicity? Did you say, you lost someone else?" Oliver couldn't stop himself from asking. He watched the doctor looking at Thea and Diggle, as if asking for permission.

"Thea, did someone die? What are you hiding from me?" Oliver tried to get up and was successful this time. He managed to hold on to the edge of the bed and sat on the bed upright.

Thea looked pained. Diggle looked everywhere else except at Oliver.

Then the door of the room opened and Captain Lance stepped in.

"You are awake, Queen. Good. Now I can press charges on you for the death of Ray and my grand baby."

Oliver felt air leaving his lungs.

Ray is dead.

Felicity's husband is dead.

Felicity is a widow, because of him.

Oh my god…!

And what is this about a baby?

He looked at his sister. His eyes pleading her.

"Felicity had been two months pregnant. They hadn't known. She miscarried." Thea managed to utter. Her face was ashen like a mask.

Oliver wanted to die.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 02 – Thea's POV**

Thea loved her brother.

There was no doubt of that. Ever since her first memory, she loved her brother. Oliver was the best big brother a girl could hope for.

He listened to her. He played with her. He spoiled her. He took care of her. He loved her.

He was seven years elder than her. Yet he never disregarded her in any matter.

Oliver was the only family she had in this world.

Their father died when she was twelve in a plane crash. Their mother died after suffering as a cancer patient when she was seventeen.

Since then it was Oliver and her in their huge Mansion. Oliver was her guardian. After four years from their mother's death, Thea Queen and Oliver Queen had managed to bring back the Queen Consolidated back to its past glory.

They were doing well. Except for the loneliness in their lives.

They had friends. John Diggle has been Oliver's best friend for a long time now. Tommy Merlin who was a constant present in their home nearly for two decades had moved out of Starling city with his girlfriend Laurel Lance two years ago. Yet he contacted them often.

Lyla Michelle, Diggle's wife had dinner with the Queens monthly.

Walter Steel, an old family friend was always there to help them with the company issues.

And there was Sara Lance. Thea particularly didn't like Oliver's friendship with Sara. But she never made it an issue. Oliver liked Sara's spirit. Yet to Thea, Sara was a bad company. There was alcohol and clubbing always available when Sara was there. She was too much trouble.

When she thought about it, they had very few friends. It was the life Queens preferred. Their lives were always followed by media, always in the risk of someone trying to take advantage of them. They had to be careful with whom they spend their time.

Oliver was always very protective of Thea and himself. He was a kind of a party boy in his teenage. He and Tommy managed to give some memorable nights to Starling city history in partying. And he had a well-earned reputation as a womanizer. A play boy billionaire with enough charm and wit to melt any woman's heart.

There was only one time he was unsuccessful at that.

One time and he saw her and then he was a goner.

He was a womanizer, a play boy, a handsome heart breaker. The operative word being 'was'.

Before he met her.

Before he met the woman who broke his heart.

The woman, he fell in love with in the first meeting.

Felicity Smoak.

Being introduced to and having spent some time with Felicity, and having seen the way her brother behave around her, Thea was sure that it was inevitable.

Felicity was an adorable woman. A true beauty with brain.

A woman who rejected her brother.

Thea sighed.

Currently she was in Oliver's hospital room. They had to sedate Oliver after they told him about the tragedy. Oliver was shocked and Thea could clearly see his pain.

Oliver loved Felicity. He was in love with her.

Now he was the reason for the destruction of her family.

After Felicity's marriage to Ray Palmer, Thea saw how her brother took the spiral down.

He had stopped going anywhere except for the company. He didn't date anyone. His charming smile was lost somewhere along the way. He was always brooding. He was drowning his life in alcohol.

He had stopped living.

Even Sara, the blond with spirit was unable to drag him out of his shell. Nearly after a year, that fateful day Thea and Sara were able to convince Oliver to go out. Sara was going to leave the city for a tour of Asia. They guilt tripped Oliver and made him go to their club.

Look how it has end.

Oliver was in a hospital bed, injured. Sara was in a coma.

Felicity had lost her unborn child and husband.

Thea looked at her sleeping brother. He has changed a lot in last one year.

She remembered the day he told her about Felicity. Oliver was so much excited. He couldn't hide his affection when he talked about her. He was beaming.

He had introduced Thea to his new friend at a lunch. Thea had liked Felicity at once. Any woman who managed to make her brother this happy was a keeper for Thea.

Then one day Oliver came home defeated. He was going to tell Felicity about his feelings that day. Thea knew that. Oliver didn't meet her eyes and left for his room that night. Two days he spent brooding. Next morning Thea barged into his room and demanded to know what happened.

Felicity had a boyfriend.

She had introduced him, Ray Palmer to Oliver.

Oliver was upset.

Thea couldn't see her brother this upset. She urged him to reveal his feelings to Felicity. Thea told him that it was Felicity's decision to take if she didn't like him, but he had to give her that chance. Oliver didn't like Thea's suggestion, yet she didn't back off.

"How would you feel after ten years, when you think that you never told the woman you loved how you felt?" Thea asked Oliver.

After so much arguing, Oliver succumbed.

After a week, Oliver told Felicity that he loved her. Felicity was baffled. Yet she didn't want to stop her relationship with Ray.

Oliver didn't back off. He tried to convince Felicity that he was the better partner. And that made Felicity angry.

Their final lunch had ended with a very angry Felicity storming out of the restaurant.

Oliver had come home drunk that day. He was in utter misery.

Then they got to know about Felicity's engagement. Oliver's situation had taken a clear downfall. He tried to contact Felicity and she had refused to even see him. All his calls were rejected.

Thea tried to meet Felicity and succeeded. But, in that meeting, Felicity told Thea that she is in love with Ray and had given an invitation to their wedding.

Of course Thea didn't attend it. Though she saw their photos in News and internet as Ray was a billionaire himself. Thea was sure that Oliver had also seen them.

Since that day, Thea hadn't let Felicity's name to enter in any of their conversations. The name was banned in Queen household.

Up to now.

After one year, when it seemed like that Oliver was finally coming out of his self-implemented exile, this has to happen.

Felicity was back in their lives.

"Why do things like this happen to me, Thea?" Thea snapped out of her strain of thoughts at her brother's voice.

She squeezed his hand she held in her hands and inched to him.

"This was not your fault, Ollie. It was an accident. You didn't know that she will be there. You weren't the person who drove recklessly. You didn't do it." She tried to comfort him.

"I should have called a cab, Thea. We both were drunk. I am responsible for what happened. It was my car. I destroyed her life." Oliver's voice was full of guilty and pain.

"No. Ollie. It wasn't you. It was an accident. It is sad that she lost them, but isn't on you." Thea repeated.

"She will never forgive me. She will hate me forever. I will never be able to face her." It was as if Oliver didn't hear her voice. He was repeating the same words again and again.

"She will never forgive me…"

"Don't Ollie." Thea whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Thea felt pathetic. How could she protect her brother? She was supposed to be strong for him, yet she had no idea what to do.

How could she correct this chaos? How could she bring her brother back from his own hell?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 03 – Donna's POV**

"She's going to be alright, Donna." She heard Quentin's words.

Yet her heart was having doubts. She saw her daughter just before they brought her from the surgery. Felicity was looking pale and weak, as if she was dying.

Donna Smoak was never a weak woman. She never backed off from life. Yet now, she was afraid. She was afraid for her daughter. Will she survive? Even though she lived, will she survive the loved ones she lost? Her daughter was a widow now. And a mother who lost her child, even before learning about its' existence.

Her life was wrecked.

Her baby girl is strong. But will she survive this? Donna was not so much sure anymore.

"I'm really sorry Donna. I don't know what to do or tell in that matter. Sara had been drunk. She shouldn't have driven the car." Quentin was saying. Donna heard his words but they didn't make any impact. Her baby girl was hurt.

"Mrs. Smoak…"

The doctor, who assured her that Felicity will live after her surgery, came from her room. Donna got up from the chair she was residing since last two nights and walked to him.

"Doctor, how is my baby girl? Is she awake yet?" She asked him. She felt Quentin's presence next to her.

"Mrs. Smoak, your daughter is awake. But…" the doctor's voice intended trouble.

"What? Is she okay?" Quentin asked.

Doctor took another moment.

"Her surgery went well. She is awake. Apart from two broken ribs, possible concussion and some bruises she seemed to be okay when she was brought. But her left lung was punctured. We mended it but she will have to go through a long treatment and have to rest for at least two months." Doctor said, yet Donna felt like the worst was yet to come.

"And…" she waited.

"And, now that she is awake, we were able to take a diagnose about her head situation." The doctor looked straight into Donna's eyes.

"Mrs. Smoak. Your daughter is suffering from amnesia."

Donna didn't know what to say. She just stared at the doctor.

"She lost memory?" Quentin asked.

"Yes, she has completely lost her memory. She doesn't even remember her name, age or where she lives."

Donna felt like she was in a nightmare. Her baby losing her memory was a nightmare indeed.

"She doesn't remember me?" Donna asked the doctor in a strained voice.

"No, she doesn't remember anything or anyone. It's full amnesia."

"When will she be okay?" Donna asked again.

"We can't say for sure, Mrs. Smoak. It may take two days, weeks, months or years. There is a chance that she may never regain her memories. We will wait for a few days and see how she recovers. Then we can decide how to move on with her treatments. Don't lose hopes." The doctor patted Quentin's shoulder and left.

Doctor's words hit Donna like thunder bolts.

How could her baby lose all her memories? How could her little genius lose everything she held close to her heart?

How could fate be this cruel to her baby girl that she loses her husband, her child and her memories all the way at the same time?

How could this happen to her?

But, if she doesn't remember anything, that means she won't remember Ray or what she lost that night. She will not suffer from the pain of losing her family, because she doesn't remember them.

That should be a good thing. Isn't it?

Donna's mind worked fast.

She couldn't let her daughter suffer anymore. If she regains her memories she will be hurt.

"She should not get her memory back." Donna whispered to herself.

"What?" she forgot that Quentin was there. He was staring at her like he was seeing her for the first time.

"She should not get her memory back." She repeated.

"Donna..?"

"If she got her memory back she will suffer. Isn't it enough that she has already lost everything that mattered to her? Should she go through that again?" Donna asked him.

"I get what you are thinking, Donna. But if she ever regained her memory back wouldn't she be hurt? We can't stop her from getting her memory back, Donna."

"But, if she never regains her memory isn't it unfair that we hurt her with truth? Isn't it unfair that we force their deaths on her? Isn't it unfair that she should mourn for someone she doesn't even remember?"

Donna was not going to see her baby girl hurting again. She saw her going through that too much.

When her husband left her Donna saw how that hurt her daughter. Felicity was waiting for her father to return for months.

When finally she got over the fact that her dad will never come back, she accepted it with complete change of herself. She was not the vibrant bubbly girl anymore. She was not the fire filled child anymore. She withdrew from everything she loved, including Donna. It was her way of mourning for her loss. She had lost her dad.

Then she went to college and met Cooper. Donna again saw some of her fire back. Felicity had turned herself into a Goth. But she was more open. She was more active. It was as if finally she was letting go the pain she endured through her child hood. Donna was happy, more relieved. Even though Felicity was still reluctant to open her hands towards Donna at least she was opening up to someone.

Then Cooper died.

Donna didn't exactly know what happened. One day Felicity came home and ran straight into her arms. She cried for a long time without telling anything to Donna. She was at home for one week. Donna didn't ask her what happened. Then at one night Felicity told her that Cooper was dead. They both cried for loss holding each other.

Felicity went back to college after two weeks. This time she changed herself again. She dyed her hair blond. And she turned her wardrobe back to colors. She mourned for Cooper, yet she was not gloomy. She was taking things slowly.

After college Felicity went to Starling city. She got a job and met Ray. He was someone who could make her smile. Ray shared her enthusiasm for computers and technology, in which Donna completely failed. When Donna first met Ray, she was happy beyond limits that her little girl was having a life again. When Ray proposed Felicity, it was her that Felicity called first to tell.

She couldn't be with Felicity for most of her engaged time, but their relationship had took a turn. They were no more strangers to each other. When Donna moved to starling city and started dating Quentin it was Felicity who supported her.

After Felicity's marriage, they moved to Coast city. Ray had started a new company there. Donna visited them often and sometimes they visited Donna in Starling city.

Their lives were perfect.

Like fairytale perfect.

Now her baby girl had lost everything and Donna couldn't let her go through that pain again.

She deserved more than that from life.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Donna came back from her painful memories to see a petite brunette staring at her expectantly.

Thea Queen.

She knew Thea Queen. Everyone in Starling city knew her. The last Queen woman alive. One of the two Queen heirs who built back the Queen Legacy from rubbles. Sister of Oliver Queen.

Donna knew that Felicity knew Thea. Felicity knew Oliver Queen. He was a friend of her once. She remembered that her daughter talked about him very fondly over the phone when she chatted with her. Then something happened and Felicity stopped talking about him altogether. She didn't like even mentioning his name.

Donna has met him once. He felt as a good man to her.

Donna even suspected that he was in love with Felicity that time, and when she mentioned it to her daughter later she had brushed that off saying it's unthinkable even.

Quentin said that it was his car which crashed Felicity's mini cooper. He was injured as well.

That explains Thea's presence in the hospital.

"Um… Donna.. Can I talk to you for a minute?" Thea asked again.

"Yeah. Come Thea, sit here."

Donna suddenly felt pity for the young girl. She had lost her parents at young age. Then their family company collapsed. She and her brother have worked so hard to bring it back to its glory. Now her brother is injured and in a hospital. She figured that Thea Queen must hate hospitals.

The girl sat beside Donna.

"I'm really sorry for Ray and your grandchild, Donna." Thea whispered. Donna nodded in acknowledgement.

They sat there silently for a few moments.

"How is Felicity?" it was Thea who broke the silence.

Quentin stood from his seat and came towards them. Donna looked at him.

"I'm going to the café down there. Do you need anything to eat or drink?" he asked. Donna shook her head in refusal. Quentin looked at Thea questioningly.

"I'm fine. Thank you." Thea replied.

After Quentin disappeared from the door at the corner of the corridor, Donna sighed.

"Felicity awoke just a few minutes ago. But doctors are still keeping her sedate. They say she has amnesia." Donna's voice broke at the last words.

Thea's eyes widened at her words.

"She has lost her memory. She doesn't remember her name, her family or anything else for that matter. Sad thing is that I don't know whether it is a good thing or not, she forgetting us, forgetting what she lost." Donna continued.

"I… I don't know what to say." Finally Thea said.

"Me neither, sweety." Donna returned.

They waited for another few minutes.

"How is Oliver?" Donna suddenly remembered that her daughter is not the only one who was injured.

"He kept surfacing and losing it. But he awoke and talked with us nearly an hour ago. His leg is broken. There are a few bruised ribs and a mild concussion. He had lost so much blood. But, he is stable now."

Thea replied.

"Sara has gone to a coma." Donna supplied.

"Ollie kept asking about Felicity. He is utterly miserable. I feel like it is unfortunate that he hadn't lost his memory. I know it is selfish of me to ask you this Donna, after Felicity's state. But, please don't hate my brother. He never intended to hurt her. He will die before hurting her intentionally."

"They were friends." Donna said.

"He loved her." Thea returned.

Donna looked at Thea, surprise evident in her eyes.

"He still loves her. He never stopped loving her. That's why this is too hard for him." Thea said.

Donna didn't know what to say. She was silently processing what she heard. So that's why Felicity was so nervous when she mentioned Oliver. Did she have any feelings about him too? Donna didn't know.

"We have to think about what to do next." Thea said.

"Felicity needs to rest for at least for two months. Doctor said so. I'm thinking about taking her back to Vegas. I don't think it would be good for her to be here or in Coast city. She doesn't remember anything. It feels like a blessing considering what she has to face here. Media and reporters won't let her live in peace here."

Donna said.

"If there is anything we could do…" Thea supplied.

"I don't think so, Thea. I have to arrange things here too. I can't exactly leave Quentin when Sara is in a coma stage. We called Laurel. She is on the way. I have to discuss this with Quentin and Laurel and then arrange our leave." Donna said.

"Umm.. Donna, That's what I came here to talk you about. I talked with Laurel and Sara's doctors. We are taking her to Russia, for further treatments. If you like you and Felicity can join us. There are good medical facilities. And it will be easy for Captain Lance if you are there with Sara. A change of surrounding will be good for Felicity too. John and Ollie too will be going. Ollie also needs a few weeks to be able to walk again." Thea said.

Donna thought for a bit.

"I don't know Thea. Thank you for your offer though. I have to talk with Felicity's doctors and our family first. And do you think it will be okay for Oliver if Felicity was there?" Donna asked.

"He will be happy to do anything if it helps Felicity to heal quickly. Honestly I think both of them need time away from media and business. It won't be easy for them to recover when reporters are following and sniffing for news around them constantly."

"You are right. I will think about it, Thea." Donna said.

"Thank you Donna. I'll leave you to it then. Please consider it carefully." Thea said as she rose to leave.

"I will, dear."

Donna watched the little brunette leaving. Thea had a point. The media won't leave Felicity alone. They will try to make this a full tragedy.

And she thought about Thea's reveal that Oliver loved Felicity. if media got even a hunch about this they will turn it to a bloody mess. She couldn't let that happen. She has to take her baby girl away. And it would be better if it's a place where nobody knows her. she will be left in peace.

She will see her baby once they let her go to her and then decide whether to accept Thea's offer or not.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 04 – Felicity's POV**

She was confused. It's been 06 days since she's been awake after her accident. She remembered nothing. Not who she was, what she was or where she was. It was nothing.

The doctors examined her. They took her to various tests. They said her memory loss was permanent. The part of her brain which was responsible for storage of her past memories was permanently damaged. The chances of her regaining her memories were minimal.

Her physical state was no better. She hurt everywhere. She couldn't even turn on to her side without hurting. She had been attached to so much tubes and her body was literally covered with bandages. Yesterday they took off her tubes and let her get down from the bed.

She felt lost.

There were people who visited her often who she didn't know. There was a woman always by her bedside each and every time she was awake briefly during her time between consciousness and unconsciousness. She was crying when she finally came to living world. They said she was her mother, Donna Smoak. Apparently, her name was Felicity Smoak. And she was 25 years old. She was in Starling city hospital.

Felicity…

Felicity Megan Smoak…

She felt good. She had a name.

And a mother, who obviously loved her so much.

It's good. It's a good start.

Then there were her doctors. She was introduced to them. She liked them. They were kind.

A man visited her often. He brought food for her mom. His name was Quentin Lance. He is to be her step-dad. Her mother told her. She learnt that it was his younger daughter who drunk drove and smashed Felicity's car. Sara Lance. Sara was fatally injured and was in a coma now.

Her old self hadn't had many friends, it seemed. There were a few people came to visit her.

And a small figured brunette visited her often. Her name was Thea Queen. Her mother said Thea was a friend of her. Thea was kind. She waited with Felicity when her mom went home. She told her about their time together as friends. Thea made her laugh. Felicity liked Thea.

Then there were the Flower sender. Felicity was surprised first time, when the flowers arrived. There was no card or note from the sender. They were white Lilies. She liked them. Her mom said they were her favorites. So, the person who sent them should be someone who knew her well. She was intrigued the second time they arrived, again without any mention of the sender. They were always there when she woke up.

Today morning a new basket with Lilies was there. Felicity asked her mom about them. She said she had no idea about the flower sender.

It was a mystery.

She hates mysteries.

"You are awake. How are you doing, baby girl?" Her mother came near her bed.

"Is it time for medication already?" Felicity asked.

"No, you have another hour before your next medication dear." Donna said.

"I feel like I was in a bad accident. But considering the fact that I was, I think I feel okay." Felicity said. Donna smiled.

"You are getting started with babbling. I think that's a good sign. I missed those."

"When am I allowed to go home? I hate these white gowns and white sheets and white walls and white tiles. Everything is white. It's depressing." Felicity said.

"As soon as the doctors give their permission you can go home baby. Though I have something to discuss with you about that." Donna walked to her and took Felicity's right hand in hers'.

"What mom?"

"Baby girl, you lived in Coast city for the past year. I lived here with Quentin. I would really like it if you come to our house. There is no one in Coast city for you to return to."

Felicity considered the facts in front of her.

Her home was in Coast city, where she had lived alone. Where she didn't remember a life.

Where she didn't have anyone to return to.

Here, in Starling city, she had mom.

She had a step dad, whose daughter was in a coma.

She had a friend, Thea.

And she had a flower sender.

She didn't remember a life here too.

"Okay, I'll be with you. Would Mr. Lance like that?" Felicity asked.

"Oh, he would definitely like it. But, there is another option." Donna said.

Felicity waited for her to continue.

"There was another person who was injured in your accident Felicity. Thea's brother, Oliver. He was with Sara. It was his car Sara drove. He was badly injured too. They are going to take him to Russia and they offered to take Sara there for further treatments. Thea asked us to accompany them too."

Donna said.

"How is he, now?" Felicity asked.

"Who?" Donna was confused.

"Oliver. Thea's brother. You said he was badly injured. How is he now?" Felicity asked.

"Oh, Oliver. He is better now. They had said that he will have to rest for at least two months. His leg is broken, so he has to go through physiotherapy. So, what do you think baby girl? Would you like to go to Russia with them?"

Russia.

It seemed good.

"What do you think mom?" She asked for Donna's opinion.

"I want to be with you, baby girl. But if I can stay with you and look out for Sara at the same time, I would like that more. And your friend Thea will be there too, so you wouldn't be bored."

Felicity seemed to like that. She had decided to take it lightly. One day for one time.

"Okay. It's Russia then." She finalized.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 05 – Diggle's POV**

It was a fine day. It felt like living one month in one week these past few days. Oliver's accident has left all of them around him restless. Oliver was the center which held all of them together. He and Lyla got together again because of Oliver. He became unofficial big brother of Thea when Oliver wasn't there. Tommy and Laurel were close friends with them. Sara became his training partner. Roy became a partner of his security firm. And they were a one big family. Yes, it was weird to think that their family included two handsome billionaires, a 21 years old heiress who was running her own club, an ex-military couple, a famous lawyer, a martial art champion bar tender and a guy who literally grew up in streets.

Yes, they were unconventional. Yet they were family.

And nearly two years ago, they thought that the family will be again extended with the addition of a smart blonde beauty. Well, all of them hoped. But that didn't happen and they were left with a very brooding Oliver Queen.

And the said blonde is now with them after two years standing inside the Queens' private jet, staring at him, as if this was the first time she saw him.

Felicity Smoak.

The one and only Felicity Smoak, who managed to shake the charming play boy Oliver Queen inside out.

John Diggle, was the one who knew it best. After all he was Oliver's body guard and his best friend since a long time. He saw the catastrophe happening in front of him. He also had a front row seat to Oliver's downfall after the blonde left him with a bleeding heart.

So, that Felicity Smoak was in front of him.

Diggle cleared his throat.

The blonde woman blinked. "You are a wall." She blurted.

"Huh?"

"Oh, Oh my god! I said that loud. Didn't I? What is with me? Why am I always thinking aloud? Was I like this before too or is this a new trait? I have to ask mom." And she looked into his face and blushed.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that you are a wall. I just thought that you looked like a wall, with all those muscles and not like a brick wall. I mean I didn't intend to make you feel like an inanimate object, a wall for that. No, No, that was not my intent. I didn't expect to see someone like you here. They said we are travelling with Queens. I know Thea. She visited me at hospital. She said her brother is going with us. And you don't look like Thea's brother. I don't mean that you couldn't have a sister. You certainly could. But she said that her brother had a broken leg and he was in a wheelchair. And why are you not stopping me? I 'm going to stop this in 3,..2,..1." She stopped her long ramble.

"Hello Felicity. It's good to hear you ramble again." Diggle said with a warm smile.

She blinked again.

'Oh, you know me too. I mean from before my accident and the memory loss. I seemed to have known a lot of people now I come to think about it." She muttered the last part to herself.

"I knew you, Felicity. You hung out with Oliver and Thea." Diggle said.

"Oliver? Oh, Thea's brother. I knew him too? I didn't know that. Thea didn't mention that. But I haven't met him yet. I mean in my second life. I keep naming this as my second life in my head. And I think too that this is it, at least my second chance at life. Oooh, sorry I got distracted again. That happens a lot apparently." She finished her ramble with a tap to her head.

Diggle chuckled.

She was a ray of sun shine. Is there any doubt that why Oliver fell in head over heels for her?

Their chat stopped when the door of the cabin opened and Thea and Oliver entered the room. Oliver was wheeling his wheelchair. Diggle knew Oliver hated this. Being restricted to a chair was not something the Queen heir like much.

"Hello Thea. Is this your brother? He is hot." Felicity said.

Everyone in the room stared at her, including a very stunned Oliver.

Felicity's eyes widened. Her face flushed with a deep red hue.

"I said that aloud. Didn't I?" she asked from no one apparently.

And Thea nodded in agreement, an amused smile on her face. Her eyes were sparkling.

"I'm sorry Oliver. I didn't mean to tell that. I mean, it's not that you are not hot. You are. Like on the surface of the sun- hot. But I didn't mean to say it aloud. Only in my head. But I had had a trait of thinking aloud and putting my foot in the mouth syndrome and unfortunately I haven't lost that after my accident. Just my memories. Or should I say our accident? And come to think of that maybe I should be relieved. If this is any indication of how I spent my life constantly putting myself in embarrassing situations, then maybe there are so many memories that I don't want to remember. And I'm doing that again which will be stopped at once." She finally came out of the deep hole she digged around herself.

"Did she always talk until she remembered to take a breath at last?" Roy came right behind Thea and asked.

Felicity was getting nervous and self conscious. She fidgeted but her eyes never left Oliver. She was staring at him.

Oliver's face was an emotionless mask. Diggle had seen that face often, when he was at QC and facing a business rival. But this was the first time he saw Oliver putting that face in front of someone he loved.

Thea let a laugh out breaking the tension of the room which suddenly seemed to fill the room.

"We missed you Lizz. Your rambles are totally welcome here. Aren't they, Ollie? Thea asked from her silent brother.

Oliver didn't say anything and turned his wheelchair 180⁰ and left the room with a frown on his face.

"What has got him?" Roy asked and again got un-replied.

"Did I do something wrong?" Felicity asked in a weak voice. Her face was suddenly drawn in. she looked as if all the brightness has left.

"No, you didn't do anything wrong, Lizz. Ollie is in a bit dark mood these days, with what happened. Don't take it personally. He will come around. And usually he is more cheerful than that." Thea said.

"May be I shouldn't have talk about the accident like that. With Sara being in a coma because of that and all. It's not okay to be reminded that your girlfriend is hurt and unconscious when you are getting better." Felicity said.

"Sara is not…" Roy was again interrupted by Thea.

"Yeah. That's it. But that's not your fault, Lizz. He has to face what happened eventually. Hopefully he will get a grip when we settled in Russia and had a time to give it a think."

Diggle knew that Thea was deliberately letting Felicity think that Sara was Oliver's girl friend and he hoped that Thea had a good reason for doing that.

Rest of the flight spent in chat. Mostly it was dominated by Thea and Donna. They were planning their stay. Diggle was to be stay with Oliver and Thea. Roy was just visiting them. He will be returning to the Starling city after two days. Roy has to help Tommy in managing the club. With Sara in a coma, they were lacking in the crew and Tommy needed all the help he could get. Oliver's absence in the QC is going to be filled by Walter Steel.

Donna is to be staying with Felicity in house next door and she took the responsibility of caring Sara at the hospital. Thea could be with Felicity at day and they could all hang out in the evenings.

Oliver had insisted that he needed peace and space and specifically had asked Thea to leave him alone in his solitude. Diggle suspected that even though Thea had agreed to Oliver's conditions for coming to Russia, she must be planning something in her mind if the way she acted around Oliver and Felicity is a clue.

Thea had a vicious mind and the fact that she was planning something to get Oliver and Felicity together was bothering Diggle to no end.

Oliver never came out of the cabin for the whole flight and Diggle was not surprised.

Oliver was always a very sensitive person and it must be very hard for him to be in Felicity's vicinity again after all the things happened between them.

Felicity was also seemed to be saddened by Oliver's demeanor and was silent throughout the journey. Diggle saw her stealing glances at the cabin door time to time when she thought no one was watching.

It amazed him to observe that Felicity was concerned by Oliver's ignorance of her. The troubled look adorned her eyes was strangely similar to the one Oliver donned when he was ignored by Felicity once.

After landing, they got into the vehicles that arrived to take them to their destination and once again, Felicity was relaxed when she was no longer in Oliver's vicinity.

It was interesting to see her whole character changing around Oliver.

She feels something for Oliver. Diggle realized.

May be this vacation will give both of them a second chance. May be it will give them a chance to heal. To heal each other.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 06 – Oliver's POV

Oliver didn't like the way things were going. Yes, he was getting better. His leg was hurting less and other wounds were also healing. And they were in Russia, a place where he had best memories with his parents. The Queens used to spend their summer vacation there, when he was little. The time they spent there, got less and less with the time. And after Thea's birth his parents were so busy that they chose to stay home at holidays.

Oliver missed Russia. He loved their mansion there. It was not situated in a big city like Moscow or St. - Petersburg, but in beautiful Russian countryside. The life there was peaceful and serene.

They all settled well in Russia. Thea was so excited that Oliver felt bad for Roy.

What bothered Oliver most was the fact that Felicity was living next door from now on. When he saw her on the plane before, he was stunned. He thought he was ready to face her, but nothing could have prepared him to be blown by her spontaneously bright nature again. She was babbling like a parrot and to say that was the first trait of her that he fell in love was the truth. It felt bad enough that he was the reason for her to be hurt and confused, but seeing her innocent self in its peak was so un-nerving.

Yes, he saw her after their accident. He visited her room at the hospital. But he was very careful to be not seen by her. His visits were restricted to night, when she was asleep. If he was lucky, he would have a few minutes to stare at her. But he always left with the first sign of her being awake.

And he always made sure that her room was sent a beautiful flower bouquet of white lilies which were her favorites.

But he couldn't face her yet. He was not ready. And he couldn't bare the hints of her interest directed at him. He felt like he was mocking her, humiliating her. After all he was her culprit. He was the one who destroyed her well defined life. He was the one who smashed her perfect world. He didn't deserve her attention and he definitely didn't deserve her affection.

Oliver has decided that he would stay away from her as possible.

And there was the huge responsibility of Sara. She was still in coma. Quentin could not come with them to take care of her, so they had to be there for her. She was his friend. He has to be there for her.

They arranged the hospital of nearest city which was one hour away from their home for her stay. She was being treated by the best doctors of Russia. And Oliver had made sure that she was well cared there. Everyday Donna was to visit her and Oliver and Thea planned to visit her twice a week.

Diggle was there to help Oliver with physical therapy. But he was there mostly because he knew that Oliver needed him to be there.

Speak of the devil; Diggle came into Oliver's room after a knock on his door.

"How are you doing, man?" Diggle settled on his widow sill looking outward from the window and asked.

"I'm good." Oliver replied.

Diggle turned his head and gave Oliver a reprimanding glare. "Really?"

Oliver sighed and changed his answer.

"I'm good as I can be at a situation like this, Dig."

Diggle chuckled.

"As in staying in near proximity of the woman who you loved a lot and lost once and getting her undivided attention for once?" He asked.

Oliver was not amused.

"No, as in being in near proximity of the woman who you loved once and destroyed her life totally by killing her husband and her unborn child and getting exposed to her innocent curiosity."

Diggle got up from his seat and came to stand beside Oliver's wheel chair.

"Oliver… you can't think like that. It's self-degrading. You are not to blame for an accident."

"It is from our view Dig. But she will never think about it like that once she got to know about that. She will never forgive me and she will resent me even more if I let her to be close this time."

"Oliver…"

"No. Dig. Please. I don't want to talk about it. But if you can, please tell Thea to stay away from it. The last thing I want her to do is playing matchmaker."

Oliver hated that he couldn't leave the room in a dramatic exit of slamming the door or something like that.

Diggle won't be impressed by a childish act like that anyway.

….

They were all gathered up for dinner. Thea and Donna had decided that they all have to take dinner together until they stayed in Russia. So they could spend some time in each other's company and exchange the daily experiences, like a family. It is going to be a torture. Oliver thought to himself. Felicity will be there and he will have to talk with her and carry out conversations.

But he was a bit happy about it too. At least he will be able to see her. He wanted to see her. To see that she was healing and getting better. To see that she was getting back to her quirky self.

It was a weird situation to be in.

The first dinner was scheduled 10 minutes ago and Oliver was on time surprisingly.

It was Felicity who was late and they waited for her. Thea and Roy were having a cute fight. Probably about his flight home next morning.

Diggle was talking with Donna about Felicity's physical therapy.

Oliver was the only one who was just sitting there. He had adjusted the height of his chair to be in same level with the dinner seats.

He was the first one who noticed Felicity entering the dining room through the door.

She was wearing a comfortable looking yoga pants with a MIT T shirt. She was looking fabulous.

"Oh, there you are Felicity. You are late. Why were you late? Did you settle into your home well?" Thea as always shoot a chain of questions towards Felicity. Felicity looked baffled by her questions. She blinked twice and smiled nervously.

"Whoa.. Is that how others feel when they were confronted by rants filled with questions by me?" She asked earning chuckles from Diggle and Roy.

"She's cute, I can see the appeal." Roy murmured.

"Come here darling. Sit with me. We can start dinner now." Donna beckoned Felicity to her side.

"Hi, everyone. I'm sorry I couldn't be here at time as I was distracted by the wall hangings in the living room, more correctly the big hall that should be the living room." Felicity said as she sat on her chair.

"Yeah. I remember watching them in awe the first time I was here." Roy said.

"You have been here before?" Oliver's sudden question threw Roy in a difficult situation. Everyone knew that Oliver didn't like to be reminded about Roy's intimate relationship with his little sister Thea. Even though Oliver didn't interfere with Thea's affairs he had strongly shown that he didn't approve of Roy until recently.

It was still a bit unsettling for Roy to be on the other end of Oliver's glare.

"We came here on our first anniversary, Ollie." Thea answered not noticing the tight lock of Oliver's jaws.

"Okay, then, let's start the dinner." Donna tried to break the tension in the room and succeeded as Oliver took his glare off of Roy.

They started eating.

"So, Felicity, do you like your new residence?" Thea asked after a while.

"Yes. It's beautiful, Thea. I mean the surrounding is just magical. I loved it. I can't imagine how cool it must be to grow up having a place like this to come in holidays." Felicity said.

"Well. I didn't come here in my childhood much. It was Ollie who practically grew up here. He used to beg mom and dad to visit here in holidays. But mom and dad were very much invested in business and didn't have much time to spend with us then. So we stayed at home. Then Ollie started spending his time out of our home in vacations and I think he must have come here with Tommy once or twice. Haven't you Ollie?" Thea asked.

Oliver grimaced.

"Yeah. We visited here twice. Once me and Tommy alone and once Laurel and Sara along with us. But it was long ago." He replied.

"It must be wonderful for you two, to being in love with two sisters. You could spend your holidays with your family, best friend and your girl all together." Felicity said. Oliver was stunned. Again.

Where did she get the idea that Sara was his girl friend?

"Sara and I…" Oliver was interrupted by Thea.

"They were so annoying. All of them together leaving me alone with maids in the house to have fun and partying." Thea said.

"We couldn't take you with us, Thea. You were barely twelve." Oliver let the interrupted explanation go. Come to think of it, his relationship with Sara was not Felicity's business.

"If I had a home like this, I wouldn't ever think of leaving it ever. Or at least I would have come here every chance I get." Felicity was still in her dreamy state over the house.

"Actually Felicity, I like Starling city more. May be because that's where my life is based on. But I know for a fact that Ollie had planned to spend his vacations here, when he get married." Thea said with a mischievous grin and received a glare from Oliver in return.

"Oh, were you planning your wedding, Oliver? I'm so sorry for what happened. I know this is not the right time or the place. And it is not my fault or yours. But I'm sorry for the accident." Felicity's genuine apology tore Oliver's heart apart.

"I'm sorry too…" he managed to mutter.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 07 – Felicity's POV

Making new memories

Time spending with Donna

Shopping with Thea

Next door silent neighbor

She was living a new life. Yes, a brand new one. She was bonding with her mother again. She was making friends with Thea again. She was starting to enjoy Diggle's silent chuckles at her ramblings.

She was getting to know people again.

Felicity liked it.

She was making new memories for herself.

The only dark cloud on her happy rainbow was Oliver. Not Oliver himself, but rather his brooding lifestyle. His silent and gloomy appearance. She was baffled by him. She was puzzled by him. This Oliver was so different from the Oliver Thea told her about.

This Oliver was so different from the one who she imagined him to be.

This Oliver was a mystery and she hated mysteries.

They needed to be solved.

She didn't understand the pull she felt towards him. But she definitely felt it. And by the way Oliver tried his best to stay away from her;she knew that he felt that too.

She wanted to get to know him. To understand what made him tick. She wanted to find the real Oliver, who was a mystery to her.

…

"Hey baby girl. How are you feeling?" Donna made her way towards Felicity in her room.

"I'm fine, mom. Just feeling a bit tired. I explored the Garden with Thea today. There is a natural pool at the end of the garden mom. We just saw it today. We made plans to go there for lunch tomorrow. We are having a picnic." Felicity was smiling. She really enjoyed the time she spent with Thea. They were made to be friends.

"I'm happy that you enjoy your stay here, Lizzy. But don't exert yourself much. You have to get better first and you have to give time to your wounds to heel." Donna said while settling down on her bed near Felicity.

"I like it here, mom." Felicity turned on the bed and placed her head on Donna's lap. Donna started to caress her hair.

"I just want you to be happy, baby. I don't know whether I'm making the right calls regarding you. But I just want you to be safe and well." Donna said. Felicity noticed the tears pooled in Donna's beautiful blue eyes.

"Oh, mom… don't feel bad. I'm happy here. Why are you so upset? Is everything okay with Sara?" Felicity asked.

Donna blinked and looked at Felicity with love filled eyes.

"Yes, baby. Everything is okay. As much as it can be, I guess. Sara is still asleep. But at least she is stable now. Doctors are hoping that she will wake up soon. If she wakes up soon, we can go home." Donna said.

Felicity felt disappointed slightly. If Sara awoke soon, they would be going home. She didn't want to go home so soon. She liked it here. Does it make her a bad person that she wanted to be here a bit longer?

"Can I visit Sara, mom? I know that I don't remember her, but she is to be my step sister, so it makes sense that I got to know her, even if she is asleep." Felicity asked from Donna.

"I guess, it would be okay, Lizz. But first you have to be healed. This weekend Thea and Oliver are going to visit Sara. May be you can go with them next time they are visiting." Donna replied softly.

Oliver… Of course. It may be the fact that Sara was in a coma that have Oliver in such a bad mood. He wouldn't like it if she crashed his visit of Sara.

"I'll go with you when you visit her, mom. Maybe next week. I don't think that it would be okay to go with Oliver. It's their personal time, even she is in a coma, and he wouldn't want anyone else there."

Felicity said.

"As you wish darling." Donna obliged.

"Mom… Did I ever talked to you about Oliver? Was I friendly with him?" After a while, Felicity asked.

Donna took a moment before answering her.

"Yes, you have mentioned him. Why are you asking this, baby?"

"It's just that Oliver seemed to have a dislike of me. He always avoids me. I thought perhaps I have had a quarrel with him or something before the accident. I don't get his behavior around me." Felicity voiced her concern.

Donna kissed her temple softly.

"You were friends with Oliver baby. I think you were introduced to Thea by him. He was your friend first. Those days you talked about him a lot. 'Oliver said that… Oliver did this…' and such. But then after a while you suddenly stopped mentioning him. I thought that may be you had some disagreement with him. Then you got the job in Central city and you moved there. I think you didn't meet him after that. But that was more than one year ago." Donna said.

So they have had a fall out. And after that now they are again in each other's orbit. He doesn't know how to get on with her again probably and she doesn't remember anything. They are in a weird situation. Felicity thought to herself.

At least now she understand that why Oliver felt uncomfortable around her.

May be she can move past that if she tried.

He is probably scared to take the first step because he has no idea how she would react. So she has to take the first step. It was the last thought in her mind when she fell asleep.

…

"Hey Liz… We are going to explore the village town. Are you coming?" Thea's voice broke Felicity's peaceful setting. She was observing the Calf fishes in the fish tank in their living room.

"I can't Thea. My head hurts a bit." Felicity replied.

"Oooh. You and Ollie both are spoilsports. He also said that he isn't feeling well. Even though I saw him doing hand fights with Diggle an hour ago." Thea said in one stride.

"I'll stay in today Thea. You guys go and enjoy." Felicity didn't comment on Oliver.

"Okay then. I and Diggle are going. Since Roy went back. I'm feeling like I'm trapped in here. Can you do me a favor, though?" Thea's favors are never good. Even after a few days in her company, Felicity had understood that. Thea had a devious mind and she always acted on impulse.

"What?" Felicity asked.

"Can you check on Ollie, after we left? I have a suspicion that he is missing his pain killers. I don't want him to be in pain, Lizz. He has been through so much and does not need to be in that much pain. Can you please make sure that he takes his medicines?" Thea asked while giving Felicity her puppy eyes.

Felicity grinned.

"You don't have to give me that look, Thea. I will check your brother. I mean check on him, not check him out as in his looks or body. Not that he is not good to check out. He definitely is. But I didn't mean that.. urhh… you know what I mean… I'm stopping this disaster in 3, 2, 1…" Felicity felt horrible. Why does this always happen to her?

Thea laughed.

"I know what you mean. And thanks for that. Though you can also check him out if you like. I don't mind." Thea left with a smirk.

…

Nearly after one hour, Felicity walked slowly towards Oliver's house. She didn't know what to expect. Thea said that Oliver said he is not feeling well. But it can be the truth or may be he said that to avoid accompanying them on their outing. Or maybe he would have think that Felicity would be there and he said no to the trip in order to avoid her.

Whatever…. She thought to herself. I would go in and check on him and his medicines and then go back to my room.

Oliver was in their living room. His wheelchair was near the window and he was staring at the view outside.

Felicity stopped at the door and called his name.

"Oliver…"

Oliver's upper body stiffened visibly. Yet he didn't make any attempt to turn towards her.

She entered the room and went towards him.

"You don't have to babysit me, Felicity." Her steps faltered with his sudden words.

His voice didn't contain any anger or irritation. It more sounded as if he was tired. Felicity could understand that. It is not easy to be confined to a wheelchair and having all these people pampering you. For a guy who took the responsibility of his family in his teenage after his father's death, who took care of his little sister watching their mother battling with cancer and get beaten by it, who took the helm of their family business after his parents and built it into its former glory single handedly, being restricted in mobility must be frustrating.

"I just wanted to see you. I'm not here to babysit." Felicity said.

Oliver turned his wheelchair and looked at her. His blue eyes were sad.

"Why did you want to see me, Felicity?" He asked.

She swallowed her nervousness and took another step ahead.

"I… I know you are avoiding me. I don't know why that is. May be I would have done something to anger you before my accident. But as you know well, I don't remember it. But my mom said we were friends before. And I just wanted to know that, what did I do that terrible, that you don't even want to talk to me? What did I do to you that you hate me so much?" Felicity's voice was trembling. But she knew she wanted the answers, from him.

"I don't hate you, Felicity." Oliver's voice was equally distracted. He looked like as if she had punched him in face.

"But…" she was interrupted.

"I never could hate you. God knows that I've tried." He muttered.

"What do you mean by that?" she was intrigued.

"Nothing important." He said with a sigh.

Felicity was astonished. What did he mean by that? She didn't think it would be wise to dig deeper, at least not now. He clearly didn't want to venture on the topic.

"if you don't hate me, can we try to be friends again?" she decided to take another path.

This time it was Oliver who looked to be dumbfounded.

"Okay… I guess…" he replied.

Felicity flashed her best smile.

"Okay then. Let's start again. I'm Felicity Smoak." She extended her hand towards him.

Oliver stared at her extended hand for a second and grasped it with his own. He gave her a small smile.

"Oliver Queen."

It was a win in her books. They were friends.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 08 – Thea's POV**

Thea's day started with a perfect coffee. She really liked the house keeper they had here, Raisa. Oliver was the sibling who spent his days in Russia most and he was the one who was more close to Raisa. But Thea always liked the food Oliver brought from his Russian visits which were prepared by Raisa especially for Thea.

Thea's day always started with new plans. When she was in Starling city, she started the day at 7.00 a.m. Yes, it was a bit early for Tea's likings but being a successful owner of a night club apparently warranted so much time in the day. And she helped Oliver with the company time to time. And she had a personal life, a very active one in that prospect. Roy was a part of her life for a long time now. Even with occasional grumbles from Oliver, Thea managed to continue the relationship smooth.

Oliver was always very protective of her. She liked that sometimes but most of the time his over protectiveness infuriated her. He was so vary of Roy at first and when he got over that finally accepting that Thea was no more his little sister of seven years old, he joined hands with Roy and they both started getting on her nerves.

Now she had two overprotective males in her life.

Thank god that Tommy is in Central city now. She would lose her mind if he had been there and joined the 'Save Thea from all the worries' club.

And there were Diggle and Captain Lance too. At least they were sensible and respected Thea's opinion.

So, her day started nicely. She had planned to spend the day with Oliver and Felicity. Not two of them together but as in her morning with Oliver and her evening with Felicity. Thea still thought that Oliver need more time to be in Felicity's company comfortably. But she wanted her brother to come back from the hell he was living.

Yesterday Thea noticed that something has changed in their relationship. Oliver actually talked to Felicity only if it is to ask for the pepper jar and Felicity gave him a brilliant smile while passing it. They both seemed to be at ease.

This was progress in Thea's book.

….

"Hey, Ollie. Would you like to spend this beautiful morning with your little sister?" Thea walked into Oliver's room after a brief knock.

Oliver was at the window, staring outside.

"Do I have a choice, speedy?" He asked turning with a smirk on his face.

"No. actually you don't. I have decided to grace you with my presence this morning. So what do you like to do? We can spend the morning here watching one of my favorite rom-coms or we can get out of this cave of yours and go outside. Anything you like brother." Thea said with a winning smile.

Oliver gave s dramatic sigh.

"Okay, let's go outside. I don't want to torture myself by watching your chick-flicks."

"Yey…! I'll tell Raisa to prepare a picnic basket. We can have them at the backyard. Would you like to share our morning with Felicity by any chance?"

Thea knew she was taking a risk but she couldn't stop herself from asking. Oliver opened his mouth to reply and then shut it up. He seemed o be thinking.

"Okay. Never mind. We'll do that another time. This morning will be for only us. We can have some sibling time." Thea took pity on Oliver.

"Actually, I think we should invite Felicity too. It will be good for her to have some air." Oliver's answer astonished Thea. She didn't expect him to agree to her spontaneous idea at all. But who was she to resist if her brother was to extend his peace offering to Felicity. She was fully on board with that.

"Okay. I'll call her and invite. Get ready in ten minutes Ollie. I'll come to get you." Thea quickly got out of the room and sprinted towards kitchen while searching for Felicity's number in her phone.

Felicity joined them at the garden and Raisa had prepared a full picnic basket.

Oliver rolled his wheelchair through the garden and Thea and Felicity followed him. They were looking for the perfect spot to spend the morning.

They found that near the biggest tree in their huge backyard. The area was clean and had a nice view of the mansion back. Thea and Felicity laid the picnic items on the cloth Raisa had sent with the food.

"I love picnics." Felicity's cheery voice broke the awkwardness they felt.

"Me too." Thea replied.

"Did you come often here for picnics Oliver?" Felicity asked.

Oliver looked happy, Thea noticed as he answered Felicity.

"No. this is my first time having a picnic here."

Thea and Felicity sat on the grass and settled down. Oliver took a chocolate cookie from the basket and started eating. There was the beautiful silence of nature. They all enjoyed it.

But Felicity was never a silent person.

"So Oliver, how did we meet first time?" Both Thea and Oliver were stunned from the question.

Thea looked at her brother. She didn't miss his look of reminding painful past. May be Felicity understood that they didn't like discussing it.

"Did I make you uncomfortable? I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that. I already guessed that you don't like reminding my past with you. So it's okay. I want to…"

"You helped me with recovering my broken lap top." Oliver's words interrupted her nervous ramble.

Both Thea and Felicity stared at him. Thea never thought that he would answer Felicity's question.

"I recover computers?" Felicity asked.

"You are a natural with technology. I have never seen anyone with your talents before." Oliver said.

"I didn't know that." She said.

It was Thea's turn to interrupt.

"Doctors advised us to give you rest, Felicity. That's why we came here all the way away from Starling city. You are to learn things back slowly. We didn't want to force anything on you. The newspapers and Tabloids are full of the details of the accident. Paparazzi are hunting for juicy news. We wanted to protect you from all that stress. That's why we didn't tell you anything about your job or other things."

"Why I being in an accident is news worthy?" Felicity asked.

"It's because of thepeople involved in the accident." Thea replied.

"Oh… You mean, Oliver as in a billionaire and Sara as the younger daughter of a Captain of Police involved in an accident?" Felicity asked.

"Something like that." Thea said.

"What am I? What did I do for a living? I know that I have lived in Coast city for nearly one year. My mom said that. But, what did I do before that? When you met me here?" Felicity's curiosity wasn't irrational. But Thea didn't know how much exactly she could say to Felicity.

"You were an IT specialist. You worked for Queen Consolidated." Oliver replied.

"But, that's your company. You met me there?" Felicity asked.

Oliver nodded his head.

"I think that's enough talking about your past for a day, Liz. Why don't we enjoy this meal now." Thea asked.

"Okay." Felicity agreed reluctantly. And Thea could see that Oliver was lost in his thoughts. May be he was remembering the time he met Felicity.

…

Next day Thea went to the hospital with Donna and Oliver to visit Sara. Her state was same. The doctors predicted that since her state is stable, she will come out of the coma soon. Thea hoped that it would be soon. She knew that Oliver was worried about Sara. If Sara wake up, it will be one bag of guilt lessen from Oliver's shoulders.

They were on the way home when Thea and Oliver received Walter's call from QC. There was an attempt of taking over the company by Isabel Rochev. Since their mother's death Isabel had been snooping around their company. Oliver and Thea managed to chase her away and build the company stronger but at the first chance of a weak point, Isabel is again on their back.

"We need a Queen at the steering wheel, Oliver" Walter had said.

"The board is wavering. Isabel has been biding her time. One of you has to come."

Oliver wanted to go but Thea managed to withhold him. They needed a Queen. So they will get a Queen. But not the Queen they expect. Thea knew she could handle this. It didn't give an unnecessary advantage to Isabel because she was a woman. Oliver has to be polite with her every time. But Thea could return Isabel's bitchiness just as the same.

"I don't want to throw you to the wolves Thea. I should be there, not you." Oliver said.

"Are you implying that I can't handle this, Ollie? We got QC to its' glory together. We both worked our ass off to build it back from the crumbles. I'm not going to sit back while that Isabel takes it away from us. You should rest and heal. I'll handle her. She wouldn't know what hit her when I'm finished with her." Thea said.

"You are alone there."

"I have Roy, Walter, Tommy and Laurel. If I needed you I'll call you. Then you can come. But at least give me a chance Ollie. Trust me with this. I won't fail you." Thea said. And finally Oliver agreed.

So, Thea left Russia to her hometown to face Isabel, leaving Oliver behind with Diggle, Donna and Felicity.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 09 – Oliver's POV

Felicity's visit

Trying to stay away

Nightmares

Visiting Sara

Thea left for Starling city last night. Oliver already missed his little sister. Yes, she was annoyingly meddlesome creature. But he always wanted to keep her in his sight since his parents gave the one day old baby Thea into his hands. She still held that place in his heart.

One reason he wanted to go to Starling city instead of Thea was that now he was here in Felicity's vicinity without the buffer of Thea. Donna was away at the day time which she spent at Sara's bedside. Diggle was there, but he never meddled with their personal lives. These days he spent most of his time in the kitchen, tasting different cuisines made by Raisa.

The other reason was the fact that he was afraid for Thea. Isabel Rochev was a ruthless woman who was after QC for nearly a decade. She was a shareholder of their company since his father's time. She tried to take over the company after his father's death but his mother stepped up and took handle of the situation. After that Isabel was silent for a while. When Moira Queen was diagnosed for cancer, the director board decided that it was time for a new leader. And Oliver tried to hold the position in the family by appointing his step father, Walter Steel as the CEO. It was a temporary solution and after Moira's death Oliver had to allow Walter to mourn and took the role of CEO.

The Queen Consolidated was not in a good position and he, along with Thea worked his ass off to bring it to its' former glory. The hardest challenge they had to face was Isabel's attempts to take over. Yes, they were successful at that. But now, when both Queens were in Russia after the tragic accident, Isabel has again raised her venomous head.

No, Oliver didn't doubt Thea's ability to face Isabel and defend the family heritage. Oliver was sure that Thea would solve the problem and put off the threat. What bothered him was the fact that Isabel was not a woman who played according to the rules. She cheated. She played dirty. Once she even tried to seduce Oliver. He thanked gods that he was so infatuated with Felicity that he didn't even looked at the leggy brunette beauty.

Since Isabel couldn't take that route with Thea, Oliver was worried about her approach. What if Isabel hurt Thea?

That's why Oliver talked with Tommy and Roy for an hour last night. Asking about all the security details of the club and Thea's pent house. They convinced him that Thea will be safe there. Otherwise Oliver wouldn't have sent Thea there.

"Oliver, can I come in?" His train of thoughts was interrupted by Donna's voice.

Oliver turned his wheel chair and answered Donna.

"Yes, Donna, come in."

The door to his room opened and Donna entered. She was dressed to visit the hospital.

Oliver waited for her to start the conversation. She looked troubled.

"Oliver, I'm leaving to the hospital. Felicity will be alone in the house. I know it is not fair to ask this from you. But, can you check on her, at least once for the day? She said she will not leave the house. But I would be at peace if you and Mr. Diggle keep an eye on her." Donna said.

"Of course Donna. I will check on Felicity. You don't have to ask me that. We are friends now." Oliver said. He tried to hide the nervousness he fell about his and Felicity's friendship in his cheerful words.

"Friends?" Apparently he was not successful. Donna raised her right brow and questioned him. Oliver detected a little bit of amusement in Donna's eyes.

"Yeah.. We talked Donna. We decided to be friends. I promise you I won't cross my line. I know my limits." Oliver said.

Donna's eyes softened. She sighed and stepped ahead.

Oliver looked away. He didn't dare to face Donna's eyes. If he did she will see through his words and will detect the lie he was telling himself over and over. That he can be friends with Felicity and stop there. That he will never cross the line again.

"Look at me Oliver. You don't have to hide your feelings from me. I know that you loved her and still in love with her. She will never be a just friend to you. I may not be your mother, but I am a mother. I have an inborn ability to detect lies when I am lied to."

Donna's words ashamed Oliver. She and all the others who were close to him knew that he was hopelessly in love with Felicity. Yet he was there trying to convince himself that he won't cross the line this time. They all knew that they were living a lie. The day Felicity get to know about their situation, she will leave at once. Felicity didn't love him the first time, when he was a good friend to her, when he tried to do everything to make her happy. So how can he hope that this time would be different? How could he let himself hope that she wouldn't hate him this time? What will happen when she got to know that he was a killer who killed her husband and unborn child? How dare he hope that things will be okay between them ever?

"I'm sorry Donna. I will stay away from her. I know that she will hate me when she regains her memory. It's not my place to try to be friends again and it will break her heart when she gets to know that…" Oliver's voice broke.

"When she gets to know what, Oliver?" Donna asked.

"That I killed her husband and child, that I took her family away from her." Oliver replied.

"Oh, Oliver. Don't. Please don't." Donna touched his shoulder.

"It was an accident Oliver. It's not your fault. I don't see it like that and Felicity also won't see it as that." Donna said as she squeezed his shoulder.

"How can you be sure of that Donna? I know Felicity. She will never forgive me. You know, when I first told her that I love her, she thought I was joking. And when I finally got through to her that I was serious, she thought that I was trying to build my image by dating her. Next day she told me that Ray proposed her and that she accepted. I was angry at her that she wouldn't even give me a chance and we snapped at each other. When I calmed down, I again met her tried to convince her to consider her decision again. I didn't want to give up so I was insistent and she thought that I was being arrogant. She refused to even see me. She stopped answering my calls and sent me a wedding card. That is the summary of my story. She didn't like me when I was her friend and misunderstood me at my best. Can you imagine what she would think of me when she regains her memory? She will think that I killed Ray to get her back."

"But you didn't. If we can forgive Sara for hitting Felicity's car, how could we blame you who were in the passenger seat? You are afraid that Felicity will hate you that you are not even trying to love her this time Oliver."

Oh, what did Donna know? What did she know about how much he loves Felicity? Oliver don't need to love her again, he never got out of it.

At Oliver's silence Donna spoke again.

"Felicity had deep issues regarding trusting people Oliver. She had abandonment issues since her father left us. She never let people get close to her. And when someone does that even with her high built walls around her heart, she gets afraid and she backs away. She pushes that person away and she hurt them, even when it hurt her too. I think that's what happened with you. She was afraid to let you into her life. Ray was familiar and she was comfortable with him. They loved each other and she didn't like the temptation you brought. But this is not that Felicity, Oliver. I know my Daughter. This is not the Felicity who went through her dad's abandonment. This Felicity trusts people and she trusts you. This is your chance Oliver, to show her how you feel. Don't waste it."

"I… I don't think I can do that again, Donna." Oliver whispered.

"Yes, you can sweety. I'm telling you. Take a chance. What is the meaning of life if you are not living it? Take a risk. She didn't give you a chance then. But don't hold her to it. Give her a chance now."

With that Donna patted Oliver's head lovingly and left the room.

Oliver sighed. Can he go through this again? He didn't know.

….

Oliver visited Felicity and invited her to lunch at his home. She accepted that excitedly and offered to help Raisa even.

Oliver had to agree Diggle that kitchen was the best place to be when Raisa is preparing their food. It was so fun and Raisa enjoyed their banter. Felicity also joined as she promised and they chopped vegetables and prepared dessert together.

Felicity was fun to have around with her unstoppable babbling and unintended innuendoes. Oliver always liked her ramblings and loved to see her blushing when she finally realized what she said in her babble.

Diggle was clearly enjoying their new found peace and happiness. Oliver saw him smirking at them sometimes when Felicity was near Oliver and Oliver lost himself staring at her.

When food was finally done, they had lunch in the kitchen, with Raisa.

"Oliver…" Felicity took the handle of his wheel chair and Diggle left them alone. Felicity steered him towards the garden and Oliver let her.

"Thank you." When they were at the tree where they had the picnic, she said."

Oliver turned his head and looked at her.

"For what?"

"For being kind to me. For inviting me to spend the day with you. I know that this is hard for you when Sara is in hospital and you are separated from her."

"You don't have to thank me ever, Felicity. Especially, for caring for you." Oliver replied.

"I like you, Oliver. You are a good friend." Felicity said and sat beside his wheelchair on the grass.

They spent the afternoon there, talking about everything and nothing. It was so easy to talk with her. Felicity was a free spirit and Oliver enjoyed the easiness between them.

"You know, I want to swim, but I don't know if I can. Do you know whether I know how to swim?" Suddenly Felicity asked from Oliver.

"No, Felicity. I don't know that. We never went for swims before." Oliver said.

"Will you teach me how to, when you get better and out of the chair?" She asked again.

Oliver considered it for a moment. Can he teach her swimming? Will he be able to be that close to her again?

"I… I guess so, Felicity." Oliver's hesitation was detected immediately by her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that from you. I don't want to be a burden to you. Why would you spend your time with me when you can go out and have fun with your friends?"

Felicity was flustered and Oliver stopped her.

"Hey, hey… You are my friend, Felicity. I would like to help you with swimming. And I like spending time with you. it's not a burden. Quite the opposite. You brighten my day." Oliver said.

"Really?" Felicity's eyes were bright and shining with unhindered hope.

"Really." He replied with a smile.

Felicity smiled and stood up.

"So, now I have booked your time after your recovery. I think it will be only fair if I helped you with getting better. Diggle told me that you can try walking again now that you are healed enough. I can help you with that if you like." She held her hand to him.

"Now?" Oliver knew that he had to start walking again. Diggle had told him so. Oliver had improved his time standing on his legs at his exercising sessions but he hadn't tried walking again.

"Yepp. If you trust me enough to lean on when you need me." Felicity said, still holding her hand to him.

Oliver took her hand and with her help he stood up.'

Felicity banded her right hand around his waist and held his left hand with hers. She encouraged him by squeezing his hand and Oliver took his first step after almost two months, with her beside him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 10 – Felicity's POV**

Felicity felt sorry for Sara. There were so many people waiting for her to wake up and she was sleeping. Sara was beautiful. Even when she was in a coma, she was gorgeous. It was no surprise that she held Oliver's heart in her palms. If things she heard from others were true, Sara was a true delight to associate.

Felicity thanked gods for giving her the wit to refuse the offer to visit Sara with Oliver. There was no way she would be able to witness the pain of seeing his beloved in coma, in Oliver's eyes.

Felicity visited Sara with her mom. Donna didn't much like taking Felicity to the hospital. But Felicity was able to convince her mother to take her there. Felicity needed to go out. She wouldn't say that she was stuck in that house with Oliver. It would imply that she didn't like that. No, Felicity liked spending her time with Oliver. She really did.

But it was getting difficult because Oliver was a complicated man. One day he would invite her to lunch, help Raisa to cook with Felicity and would spend his entire afternoon with Felicity and the next day he wouldn't leave his room. When Felicity called to him outside his room, he just briskly said that he wants to be alone.

Then the next day, Felicity didn't risk going to Oliver's house and getting jilted again. She spent her morning with Diggle, who enlightened her that Oliver's being his brooding self again.

But later that day, Oliver had asked Raisa to invite Felicity for dinner and after having a peaceful dinner he asked Felicity to help him with walking next day.

So, the next day was great. Oliver was in an exceptional mood and even flirted with her a little. Felicity helped him and enjoyed his company. He leaned on her for support and gripped her waist as if she was his life line. She savored the feeling of being close to him.

Then the next day, he was back in his room.

Felicity couldn't take this push and pull game anymore. After all she had a head condition. Her brain was already meddled and she didn't need Oliver to drive her crazy. So, Felicity begged her mother to take her to the Hospital next day. And here she is beside Sara's bedside.

The trip to the hospital wasn't successful distraction as Felicity expected. She thought that if she got out from that house and Oliver's presence, she would be able to clear her mind of him. But her attempt was futile. Since she saw Sara, Felicity couldn't blow Oliver out of her mind. She couldn't help thinking that, if she was in the coma, instead of Sara, more people would be happier.

Oliver would have his girlfriend with him and it would be Sara who would help him to recover. Thea will also be happier. And only Donna will visit Felicity in the hospital Maybe she wouldn't make it to Russia. The Queens wouldn't offer to bring Felicity to Russia for further treatments as they did for Sara.

'Don't Felicity. Don't go there. There's nothing you can do about it now. And for god's sake don't think about Oliver.' She told herself over and over.

She hated it at the hospital. There was not much to do. Felicity had already walked two rounds around the hospital grounds and drank five coffees. Donna had made friends with another resident patient's family and she was exchanging recipes with them now.

When it was past lunch time, Felicity walked to Sara's room again and found Diggle there.

"Digs, what are you doing here? Where is Oliver? Aren't you supposed to be with him?" Felicity asked him.

Diggle gave her a warm smile.

"Oliver is at home, Felicity. He is being worried that you are here. He sent me to take you back home. He said you would have been bored to death by now."

Felicity frowned.

"I thought he was going to stay brooding today too. That's his pattern. One day of fun and happiness and two days of brooding." She said.

Diggle chuckled.

"Apparently, he has broken the unwritten pattern. He was so excited to spent time with you today and was very upset when I told him that you have gone to the hospital."

Felicity tilted her head and observed Diggle.

"Are you sure that he was worried about me or was he worried about me coming here and seeing Sara. May be he doesn't like Sara being disturbed by anyone?" Felicity asked.

Diggle shook his head.

"Trust me on this, Felicity. Oliver is upset that he didn't see you in the morning. And it has nothing to do with Sara. So, let's go and tell Donna that you are leaving with me. We have a sulking man waiting for you at home."

…..

Oliver was waiting for them at the porch of the house. He had a scowl on his face and it deepened when Felicity strutted to him.

"I was waiting for my walking partner at the gym in the morning." He said.

"I thought you would be your brooding self today and didn't want to disturb you." Felicity said.

"I was feeling down yesterday." Oliver said. Felicity was concerned. Had he been ill yesterday? She didn't check on him thinking that he was again playing push and pull game with her. May be she should have checked.

"Why? Were you feeling unwell? I should have checked on you. I should have…"

Oliver interrupted her.

"Fe-li-ci-ty… I'm okay. I wasn't ill. I think I overdid my exercises yesterday morning. That's all. Even though it is nice to know that you care about me to check on me."

Oliver was sporting a small smile. He looked several years younger when he smiled.

Felicity released a breath.

"Of course I care, Oliver. You are my friend. My only friend, except for Thea. I don't have anyone else beside you guys."

"You have the entire world, Felicity. Just wait till you go back to Starling city again. You'll forget us in two days. You have so many friends there." Oliver said.

"I don't want to go back. Can I stay here for a bit longer? I know that you want to go there because of your company and business. And you have a life there. But I don't. So can I stay here?" Felicity looked at Oliver, hope in her eyes.

Oliver led her to the garden.

"You have a life there. You just don't remember it. When you get your memory back, you'll want to go. But until that, you are welcome to stay here." He said.

Felicity smiled.

"Thank you, Oliver."

They went to their usual place. Felicity offered her hand to Oliver again and he took it. She helped him to get up and they walked ten more steps than previous day. Oliver was getting better. And Felicity was happy for that. But she liked the fact that he was leaning on her for support. She knew that once he got on his legs, he would leave for Starling city. And she will be out of his life.

…

Days went by. Felicity didn't go to the hospital again. Oliver had gotten off from his wheel chair and now was using clutches to help him move around. He visited Sara twice last week and Felicity chose to stay at home.

Today, Oliver was again visiting Sara. Felicity spent the morning in the library of Oliver's house and then helped Raisa in the kitchen.

Oliver and Diggle arrived home in the evening. Oliver looked more tired than the other days.

He didn't talk to her and straightly went to his room, limping with his clutches. Felicity wanted to ask him about Sara, but thought it would be better to leave him alone to settle down. She could always ask about Sara from Diggle.

After parking the car, Diggle came in and Felicity got him a coffee. He thanked her and perched himself on stool by the kitchen island.

"What happened? How is Sara?" After Diggle sat down, Felicity asked him.

Diggle sighed.

"Sara's state is not good. She had a seizure today. We don't know what triggered it. But doctors are carrying out tests. Oliver was there when it happened. He is shocked a bit. He'll come around after sleeping on it." He said.

Felicity felt her heart clenching at his words.

Oliver couldn't lose Sara. He loved her. What would have he felt when he saw the woman with whom he was in love, dying? When he saw her struggling for her life, What would Oliver have felt? She couldn't even imagine it.

And she felt sad that Oliver had to go through that. And for Sara, who didn't even know that someone who loved her was waiting for wake up.

For herself, who didn't have someone in her life, waiting for her.

What wouldn't she do to have someone love her as Oliver loved Sara?

"Donna said she will be staying tonight with Sara, Felicity. Can you pack an overnight bag for her and give me? I'll go there again after dinner and give it to her." Diggle said.

Felicity knew that her mother wouldn't leave Sara tonight. She loved Sara and she wouldn't break her promise to Quentin to look after her.

"Of course Diggle, I will pack a bag and give you. I'll go and pack it at once." Felicity got up and turned to leave to house next door.

"Pack a one for you too. I don't want you to stay at home alone. You can have Thea's room." Oliver said entering the kitchen. He had changed from his clothes and was leaning on his clutches.

"I can stay there Oliver. No need to…" Felicity was interrupted by Oliver's look.

"Please, Felicity." He said. His eyes were sad and he looked exhausted, as if he had aged by a decade in one day.

"Okay." She sighed again and left. Felicity couldn't say no to that face, like ever.

…..

Felicity turned again in the bed. She couldn't sleep. She was trying to sleep for three hours now. Her brain wouldn't just stop. She wanted to remember her time before the accident so bad. Did she have many friends like Oliver insinuated her one time? If she had, why didn't anyone visit her when she was in the hospital there? Did she have someone who was special to her? Maybe someone her mom didn't know about?

Was she close to Oliver, then? To Sara? Why didn't she fall for him then? Or had she?

"No…!" Felicity jumped awake by the scream. She blinked twice. Was that Oliver?

"No… Please…" The sound was muffled a bit, but was certainly coming from the one across hers, Oliver's.

Felicity got out of Thea's bed and put her slippers on. What should she do? Should she go there and check on Oliver?

"I'm sorry, please…" she started moving with the next words. He was panting now.

His door was closed. Felicity thought for a second and opened the door.

Oliver's bedside lamp was on. She could see his face in the soft lamp light. It was coiled with pain and soaked with tears. Oliver was all stiffened and was clutching his bed sheet in tight fists.

Felicity stepped inside and Oliver moaned again.

"Please… I didn't do it I'm sorry…"

Felicity stopped. She was stepping out of her line here. She was intruding his privacy. She didn't have any right to see him like this in his vulnerable state. It was not her place to comfort him. Oliver will be mad at her for this next morning.

'No, I shouldn't do this. It's not appropriate. This is not my place. I better get Diggle here.' Felicity thought to herself and turned around to leave the room.

"Felicity, please…"

She stopped frozen on her feet.

Did he? Did he call her name? like in his sleep?

Felicity turned again and looked at the man who was deep in his nightmare. Oliver was whimpering and shaking.

She couldn't stop herself. Felicity covered the distance to the bed quickly and bent down to him.

"I'm sorry… Please don't hate me…" Oliver moaned again.

Felicity knew that you shouldn't touch a person who was in a nightmare. He could hurt her unknowingly. But she couldn't help herself. Oliver was not in a violent dream. He was in a painful one. And she wanted to soothe him.

He whimpered again and Felicity sat down beside him on the bed. She touched Oliver's forehead with the back of her hand softly and called his name calmly.

"Oliver, wake up. It's just a dream." She kept muttering and ran her fingers through his hair.

Oliver seemed to listen to her. His facial expressions were changing and he was calming down.

"I'm sorry. Felicity. I'm sorry…" He kept whimpering.

"It's okay, Oliver. Everything's okay. I'm here. It's okay." Felicity caressed his hair and repeated again and again softly.

Oliver shook violently as another whimper get out.

Felicity kept one hand on his head and took the comforter which was fallen to the floor by the other.

Suddenly Oliver moved and His head was on her lap. His left hand went around her waist and he grabbed her left hand by his right.

Felicity was shocked for a few seconds and then felt Oliver relaxing on her lap. She tried to extricate her hand from his but he held onto it as if his life depended on it. Apparently there was no way of getting out of this now.

Oliver was still shaking slightly, but his whimpers were going down. Felicity leaned on the head board of the bed and adjusted the pillow to a comfortable position. Then she covered Oliver up to the neck by the comforter. Oliver adjusted himself a bit and settled in to a regular breathing rhythm. Felicity continued caressing his hair and smoothed the worry lines on his forehead.

She didn't know how much time has passed and she fell asleep on Oliver's bed.

'He is going to be so mad at me, tomorrow' was the last thing on her mind.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11 – Diggle's POV

Oliver's guilt

Call to Thea

Bonding with Felicity

Diggle had been in Afghanistan twice and faced so many intense situations throughout his life in and out of battle field. Hell, he was married to a secret agent and was managing a private security firm for years. But nothing could have prepared him to face the shock of finding Oliver Queen sleeping with Felicity Smoak, his head on her chest and her arms around his torso.

It was nearly six in the morning and Diggle knew that Oliver should be awake by now. He came home late last night and he wanted to know who would go to the hospital today and wait with Sara until Donna comes home and gets some rest.

Diggle thought that Oliver would prefer that he asked from Oliver before asking Felicity to go to the hospital. That's why he told Raisa to prepare a quick breakfast and opened Oliver's door just knocking once, calling him.

"Oliver, I know you are awake already. I told Raisa to make a…" And Diggle was stopped by the scene in front of him.

Oliver was already waking up by Diggle's voice and if he wasn't shocked by the unexpected vision, it would have been hilarious to see Oliver confused over the state he woke up to.

Oliver looked at Diggle blinking away the sleep and slowly turned his head to see the bundle of blond hair on his arms. Oliver looked stunned by the vision and he tried to extricate himself from Felicity's hold. Which managed to wake up a very sleepy Felicity who hummed in a low murmur and snuggled back to him.

Diggle noticed the first moment when Oliver came to his full senses. His eyes widened and breath stuck. Oliver again looked at Felicity and then looked at Diggle. Oliver was lost.

"Felicity…" After a second, Oliver called her again trying to release himself from her arms.

"Let me sleep…" Felicity mumbled sleepily and turned her head deep into his chest.

Oliver moved out of her body as if he was struck by electric shock, stumbling and throwing his comfort away, which finally managed to wake up Felicity.

Then it was Felicity's turn to look confused. She got to her senses faster than Oliver and stumbled out of Oliver's bed quickly as if she was sleeping in a bed of snakes.

Diggle slowly took in the scene in front of him.

There was Oliver who was only in his boxer shorts and looking at Felicity with a shocked expression. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, forgetting his clutches.

There was Felicity who was in her pajama bottoms and a tank top, with a very messy bed hair, staring at Oliver with a look of surprise mixed with fear.

And there was he, Diggle standing at the door of the room, very shocked and slightly amused by the situation.

It was Oliver who broke the stunning silence.

"What the hell are you doing in my bed, Felicity?"

Felicity blinked and took a step back.

"What?"

Oliver was getting angrier by the second.

"I asked you, what the hell are you doing in my bed?" Oliver growled. He looked like a hurt animal, which was defending himself.

Felicity shook her head as if she was clearing her head and looked at both Diggle and Oliver.

"You had a nightmare last night. You were screaming and moaning. I couldn't sleep and then I …"

"Then you came in and slept by my side?" Oliver thrashed at her,

"No…" Felicity took another step back and hit on Oliver's bedside lamp.

Oliver was glaring at her.

"I tried to wake you up and you didn't wake. You were shaking and whimpering. So I sat down on the bed and tried to cover you with the comforter which had fallen down from the bed. And you suddenly grabbed me and kept your head on my lap and then…"

Felicity's voice died at the end and she banded her arms around herself.

"You had no right to come into my room, let alone wake me up." Oliver's words were interrupted by Felicity's angry voice.

"Are you saying that I should have left you to your nightmare and stuff my head into my pillow and sleep?"

"Yes." Oliver shouted at her.

Felicity looked shocked at his outburst.

"You were screaming, Oliver." She exclaimed.

"So what?" he shouted back at her.

Felicity was speechless. Diggle had never seen Felicity speechless. She always had things to say. She always had an opinion. Yet, now she was wordlessly staring at Oliver.

After a moment of silence Felicity started with a voice which clearly showed her pain.

"I'm sorry, if I contaminated your bed or something, okay. I just couldn't sleep when someone next door was screaming in pain. I tried to help you in any way I could. I'm sorry, Oliver. I didn't want to sleep beside you. I thought that I could wait until you were out of the nightmare and then walk away. I just fall asleep before that. And I'm really sorry for that."

Felicity's voice was trembling. She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her feet.

Diggle felt Oliver's anger slipping away and he realized that Oliver was holding to his anger tightly so he can hide his pain. Oliver loved Felicity. There must have been so many times Oliver imagined having Felicity in his bed, in his arms. But not like this, in his worst moment, at his most vulnerable place, this was a nightmare for Oliver. Diggle realized.

"You shouldn't have come to my room at all, Felicity. What if I had hurt you in my sleep?" Oliver's voice was now calmed. He was trying his best to not sound hurt.

Felicity looked worse. She clutched the hem of her top tightly and blinked her eyes. She was trying desperately to not cry, Diggle was sure.

"You wouldn't ever hurt me. I know that." She said in a barely detectable voice.

Oliver's face coiled in pain. Diggle could practically hear what Oliver was thinking.

' _If you knew how much I have hurt you, Felicity.'_

"Felicity…" Oliver started.

"I was going to leave the room once I get here and get Diggle to wake you up, but then you…"

"I don't want to hear anything anymore, Felicity. I have to go to the hospital, to Sara." Oliver interrupted her.

Felicity flinched as if he slapped her.

Oliver didn't show if he saw that and took his clutches and limped out of the room to the bathroom.

Felicity waited until he left and slumped onto the bed again and put her head into her hands.

"Felicity…" Diggle started.

Felicity lifted her head and looked at him. Her eyes were blazing with tears. Her face paled.

"He called my name, John." She said.

Diggle flinched.

Her lips trembled.

"I was going to leave the room and he just called my name. He said 'Felicity, please' and I couldn't leave."

Two drops of tear ran through her face towards her chin.

Felicity wiped them off with her hands and stood up from the bed. Diggle gazed at her trying to figure out what to say. He wanted so much to see both of them at peace. They were both hurting. And neither deserved what they were going through.

"Would you like to go to the hospital?" He finally asked her.

Felicity shook her head.

"No, John, Oliver is going to see his girlfriend. I don't want to intrude on them. He… he would want to be alone with her. He wouldn't want me there."

Diggle wanted so much to tell her that Sara was not Oliver's girlfriend. That Sara was not the woman Oliver loved. But that was Oliver's choice. Diggle knew that Oliver's reasons were not fair but nevertheless they were reasons.

Felicity gave him a wary smile. "I better go now, John. Oliver will come out and get angry with me again. I don't want to make my host resentful at me again. See you at the dinner, then."

And she left.

Diggle sighed and sat on the couch in the room, waiting for Oliver to come out.

Diggle felt sorry for both of them. They were both good people.

Oliver was in love with Felicity and was already hurt from her rejection before that awful accident. After the accident, his situation became worse. Now he was suffering from guilt and terrible nightmares came as a reward. The constant reminder of Felicity's fate because of him was slowly killing Oliver. Yet, he still loved her.

Felicity was a pure soul. Diggle didn't know why she rejected Oliver before, but he knew that she was not a bad person. And she was attracted to Oliver too. She was somehow convinced that Oliver was not the person for her. And now, she was seeing Oliver at his most vulnerable state and she was falling for him. Yes, Felicity Smoak was falling for Oliver Queen. Diggle could clearly see that.

Felicity didn't remember anything from her past and Oliver was suffering because he remembered everything from their past. And they loved each other stubbornly.

But the million dollar question was, whether they can put aside what was in their past and move on with their new found feelings.

The bathroom door opened and Oliver came out.

"I'll wait with Sara until Donna takes a rest here, Diggs. You can drop me at the hospital and bring Donna home." Oliver said.

"Oliver…"

"Dig, I don't want to talk about what happened in here before. We should focus on Sara now. Leave the rest behind us, please." Oliver said.

"Okay. I'll meet you at the front door in ten minutes then." Diggle agreed and left the room.

…

Journey to the hospital was as silent as Diggle imagined it would be. Oliver was sulking in his own world. He was staring out of the window and Diggle kept his eyes on the road. When they reached the hospital, Oliver talked to the doctors and Donna informed Diggle that Sara was getting better again.

Oliver waited at the hospital with Sara and Diggle brought Donna back home.

In the evening when he was getting ready to go to the hospital and bring Oliver back, Oliver called him and told him that he would be staying the night in the hospital with Sara and that there was no need for Diggle to come to the hospital. Diggle didn't argue with Oliver knowing that it would be fruitless.

Oliver was stubborn to his last breath and he was definitely upset with himself for the way he behaved in the morning. And probably he is now guilt tripping himself, imagining the ways he could have acted without hurting Felicity more. Diggle knew by experience that it was better to leave Oliver to himself when he was in this mood. So he could process what happened and find a way to figure out things.

Felicity was present at the dinner as usual and didn't say anything when Diggle told her that Oliver is staying the night with Sara. She was uncharacteristically silent during the dinner and Donna was too tired to notice. But Diggle noticed. He knew that Felicity was hurting. She was showing her brave face to the world and Diggle was not fooled by that.

So, when Thea called him for her usual talk, Diggle told her what happened.

"Are you saying me that Ollie with his crutches and everything, stayed at the hospital, with Sara?" Thea asked.

"Yes, Thea. He said he wants to be with her. What could I say? At least Sara is getting better now. And being at her bedside alone, Oliver will have time to think things through." Diggle replied.

"No, Diggs, no… This is so bad. Oh my… What was Ollie thinking?" Thea was noticeably upset.

"What? Look Thea, Oliver is suffering too. You know him better than me. He is keeping all his worries inside himself and brooding." Diggle said.

"I'm not much concerned about that now Diggle. Ollie is strong. He can hold himself. But I'm concerned about Felicity." Thea stated.

"Why?" Diggle asked.

"Because, Felicity doesn't know that Ollie is staying at the hospital to brood. She'll think that Ollie loves Sara so much that he is worried that Felicity was getting closer to him, and he spent the night at the hospital, with his injured leg so he could stay away from Felicity. And worse, she will think that Oliver hates her so much that he rather stays at the bedside of his unconscious girlfriend. She must be so worried Diggle. If she is falling in love with Ollie as you say, she will be hurting like hell."

Diggle knew all these things before, but after Thea's words he felt the intensity of the situation.

"And Felicity is not completely healed either. Donna said me two days ago that Felicity is still suffering from nightmares every night. She is in a fragile condition. She doesn't remember the people she loved, the ones who loved her. All she has is us. So, the first person she felt close was Ollie and now he is completely avoiding her."

Thea was talking at hundred miles per minute.

"Thea, I'll talk to Felicity tomorrow morning, or better I'll talk to Oliver." Diggle started.

"No, Diggs. I'm coming there. I'll arrange our jet. Just give me three hours to arrange things here and I'll be there for afternoon tea tomorrow." Thea said.

"Your company?" Diggle asked.

"Things are settled down here. Isabel was put in her place again. Walter can manage things for a few days. I'll come there and talk to both of them. I made this mess by telling Felicity that Sara was Ollie's girlfriend. I'll clear it myself." Thea said.

After that they arranged her arrival here and talked about her club a bit.

Long after the call, when he was trying to sleep in his bed, Diggle remembered something Thea said.

She said that Donna had told her that Felicity was suffering from nightmares too. But last night she wasn't suffering from them. Instead Felicity was soothing Oliver out of his misery. And Felicity said that she fell asleep while calming him down. Obviously both Oliver and Felicity woke up after Diggle entered that room.

That means that both of them slept peacefully when they were in each other's arms.

"That's interesting…" Diggle said to himself and adjusted his pillow again.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12 – Felicity's POV

Okay… No denying to herself again. No more lies to herself. She, Felicity Meghan Smoak has fallen for her brooding neighbor. She was in love with Oliver Queen. And he hated her.

This is that kind of love, which is utterly, and heart breakingly unattainable.

Yeah… That's her life.

She doesn't remember her past. She doesn't have any friends other than who are here. She doesn't even know if she had ever fallen in love with someone before.

And yet here she is.

Again trying to love someone. Trying to trust someone.

It was a brave act. She didn't know how she got that strength. But she wanted to try.

If Felicity had learnt something from her accident, it was that life was precious. It was short. She had to live it.

Felicity had a second chance for living and she was not going to waste it. She is jumping into it with her head first.

So… she had fallen in love with Oliver, with his brooding self. She has fallen for his kind heart which he tried so hard to hide. She has fallen for his charming smile, which was so rare, his mischievous smirk, which she had seen once or twice.

Felicity knew it was insane, to think even. How could you fell in love with someone whom you knew only for a few weeks? How could you care so much for someone who didn't even like you?

But she felt the pull. Something in his deep blue eyes was pulling her, inviting her to take a dip. His little smiles, glinting glances were telling her something she knew she wanted to hear.

Oliver's stubborn scowl invited her to argue with him, to fight him for a life with him.

Felicity knew that it was foolish, to think that in his expressionless face he hide something he felt too deep.

It was foolish to think that in his ignorant glances he hide something he cared too much.

It was foolish to think that in his rude stares he hide a far driven longing.

Yet, she felt that. She felt them all.

Felicity didn't know how to describe the pull she felt toward him. But she knew that it wasn't temporary. She felt too deep for that to be temporary. She loved him. She was in love with him.

It was a day after the night Oliver spent his night at the hospital. Felicity spent the whole night awake. Last night was the same. She had tried her best to sleep both nights. First night she was too restless to sleep. She couldn't keep her eyes and brain shut for even a few minutes.

Last night she spent awake trying to regain her memory. She wanted to know. She wanted to remember. Felicity wanted to remember what happened between her and Oliver.

She was exhausted.

Felicity hadn't had a good sleep ever after the accident. She was always woken up in the middle of the night with nightmares. Always the same things. Flashes of the memories of that night. She saw flash lights. She saw the dark road; broken glass smeared with blood and heard the screeching sound of tires and a crash. Always repeating. The nightmare ended with a pair of blue eyes staring at her.

After last night Felicity had identified the eyes.

They were Oliver's.

Oliver was the last person she saw that night. His eyes…

And she wouldn't ever forget those.

…

Thea returned yesterday. Felicity heard the vehicle entering the yard and saw Thea from the window of her room. She didn't go to Oliver's house for the dinner though. She asked Raisa to get her a food plate to her house and Raisa understood her and sent one.

Felicity wanted to see Thea and talk to her. But she was reluctant. What would Thea think of her if she got to know that Felicity had fallen in love with Thea's brother? Thea would never approve Felicity coming between Oliver and Sara. Thea liked Sara. What if Thea decided that Felicity had broke some kind of friend's code?

Should she tell Thea about her feelings for Oliver? Will she be able to hide those from Thea?

Felicity had no idea.

"Hey, Liz… Why am I feeling like you were trying to avoid me last night? This was not the welcome I expected from you." Thea opened the door to Felicity's room and came in.

Felicity got up from her bed and was trapped between Thea's arms.

"I'm sorry Thea. I wasn't feeling well yesterday and didn't want to disturb your reunion with Oliver." Felicity said returning Thea's hug.

She knew that Thea didn't buy her reasoning, nevertheless she didn't comment on it.

Thea slumped on Felicity's bed and put Felicity's pillow on her lap.

"So, tell me dear friend, what happened in the time I was away, that made you being uncomfortable around me, and my brother gone to the end of brooding?"

Felicity knew Thea was teasing her, but there was understanding in her brown eyes too.

"I… Nothing special happened Thea. Sara had a seizure and I helped Oliver with his exercises. Nothing much to tell other than that." Felicity shrugged.

"Is that so?" Thea dragged the words implying that she thought otherwise. But Felicity stood on her grounds.

Thea stared at Felicity and after a moment sighed.

"Okay, then, Let's move on from that topic. You know, we should throw a party." Felicity couldn't understand how Thea moved from a serious mood to a party mood in seconds. May be her brain is not exactly on right root yet. Or Thea is that fast.

"A party? Thea, I don't think this is an appropriate time for a party. Sara is still in the hospital, unconscious. We can't throw a party." Felicity said.

Thea stood up and held Felicity's hands in hers.

"Felicity, this is a perfect time for a party. I know that Sara is still in coma. But she came through a seizure and is getting better day by day. You have recovered very well and Ollie is once again getting on his feet. He can almost walk down to the living room from his room now. That's a good thing. Isn't it? We should celebrate it."

Felicity was still not convinced.

"Sara is still yet to wake up Thea, I'm recovered but I haven't regained my memory yet, and Oliver is still in his brooding mood. I don't think he will like this idea."

Thea smiled.

"Felicity, yes, there are so many things to worry still. But we should appreciate what we have now. shouldn't we? I can make up Ollie's mind. This will cheer him up. I planned this one even before I got on the flight here. I brought you a dress and all the things. You just have to say 'yes' and we can start arranging things. Please say 'yes'. Please…. Pretty please."

Thea begged jumping on her heels.

"Okay okay." Felicity relented and Thea fist pumped in air.

"But, don't go overboard Thea. I have a feeling that this is not going to be good." Felicity warned her.

But Thea was on cloud nine and was already listing their associates in Moscow who they should invite.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13 – Thea's POV

Thea was angry. She had talked to her brother and just like Felicity had predicted, he didn't like the idea of throwing a party. What is wrong with him? Why can't he be happy just for once? Why does he have to brood always? She was beyond angry.

Yes, things were not going great. But they were good, in Thea's eyes.

She could see that Oliver and Felicity had got close in her absence and Oliver is the one who is pushing Felicity away this time. She could see Felicity's longing in her eyes. Felicity liked Oliver. There was no doubt about that in Thea's mind. It's just that Oliver is giving mixed signals to her.

And she has to solve the matter about Sara as soon as possible. Felicity is feeling guilty about Sara. She could see that. Felicity thinks that she is coming between Oliver and Sara. What amused Thea the most is the fact that Oliver hadn't cleared the misunderstanding of Felicity of Sara being his girl friend yet. Yes, it was Thea who implied the fact in her talk first, but Oliver is yet to deny that.

May be her brother is counting on the fact that Felicity will stay away from him, if he didn't deny anything.

Huh.. as if Thea would let that happen!

She has to think of a way to tell Felicity the truth without upsetting her or breaking her trust. She just has to find a way.

Thea has invested her mind in getting them together and there is nothing in this world that she wouldn't do to see her brother happy. She just has to be careful in her planning.

"Thea…" She turned her head to see Felicity standing over the door to her room.

"Come in Felicity." She invited her in.

Felicity came inside and sat on Thea's couch.

"I heard what happened. Oliver's voice was very loud. I told…"

"Don't tell me, I told you so, Lizz. It's just a minor complication. He will agree to this." Thea interrupted.

Felicity sighed.

"Thea…"

"Felicity…"

They stared at each other for a minute and it was Felicity who caved in front of Thea's stubborn eyes.

"Okay, I'm in. So, how are you going to make Oliver accept this?" Felicity asked.

Thea grinned mischievously.

"That's where you come in to play. Don't worry; you don't have to do anything. I'll do the hard work. You just have to sulk or act like sulking for a day. I will guilt trip Ollie and he will definitely cave in." Thea said.

"Remind me to never bet against you." Felicity said as she got up and left the room.

…

Thea managed to make Oliver agreed to the party. With Felicity's help, of course. May be it was bad of her to use her brother's weakness for the happiness of the cute blonde against him. But Thea Queen never took no for an answer. She had a plan and she was going to see it through to the end.

If she had to be the bad cop to make her brother see sense and get back him together with the love of his life, she would do it without any reservations.

Oliver had done so much for her. He had sacrificed his young life for her happiness and well being. After the death of their parents, Oliver had taken the place of both her mother and father. He had worked so hard to make sure that Thea had the life she deserved.

Thea wanted to see the same happiness in his life. Oliver had a brief relationship with Laurel Lance but when he realized that Laurel and Tommy were in love with each other, Oliver stepped aside and stayed out of their lives. Yet, he was not much affected.

Felicity was the first and only woman Thea knew to ruffle her brother's feathers. Oliver fell for her hard and fast. When he got to know that she was with someone else he was upset but he tried to win her nevertheless. Yet he failed and Oliver was devastated. Now he had a chance to have her back, and again Oliver was staying on the back foot. Thea was not going to see the history repeating itself this time.

Thea Queen never accepted defeat. She will fight for her brother, dirty and viciously. Even with him.

That's why she brought something special from home to Felicity. There was no way that this could go wrong.

"Hey, Lizz… have you finished getting ready?" Thea entered Felicity's room to see a beautiful woman donning a long green color dress with a silver work on the front.

"Ooops… you look amazing Felicity… Ollie is going to lose his mind tonight." Thea squealed at her friend.

Felicity turned and smiled shyly.

"Isn't it too much? I feel like a Disney princess." She told Thea.

Thea grinned.

"You look like a one. No, scratch that. You look like a Queen, pun intended." Felicity went red at Thea's declaration.

"You too look beautiful, Thea." Felicity complimented her.

"I know… But tonight is not about me… It's about us, being together as a family and going forward."

Thea said.

"I still feel guilty about helping you to make Oliver agree for this Thea. I may have stepped over the line here." Felicity said.

"Nonsense… you did a wonderful job, Liz… Now stop trying to dim your light today… We have to enjoy tonight. Do you know that there are near 50 people down there waiting for us? Let's make it down before the party starts." Thea urged Felicity.

"Okay, I'm finished. It's just that I have to put on these earrings and I'm done." Felicity took a pair of earrings from a box and fumbled with its clasps.

"Hey, about that… I brought something for you from home. I thought this would go nicely with the dress." Thea produced the velvet box she was holding in her left hand and placed it on Felicity's hand. Felicity opened the box to reveal a pair of beautiful silver earrings with emeralds.

"Oh my god, Thea. I can't wear these. These are too expensive." Felicity exclaimed.

"Yes, they are but you are going to wear them anyway. Actually they came as a set with a matching ring. I don't know where the ring is. But this suits your dress and I'm not going to let you ruin the impression."

Thea got the earrings out of the box and helped Felicity put them on. Felicity loved the earrings. Thea could say that by how much she gushed on it. Wait for the ambush brother; you'll not know what hit you. Thea thought to herself.

They entered the grand ballroom after a few minutes. The second they stepped onto the stairs, the little gathering fell silent. Thea held the hand of Felicity who was very nervous at the attention she was receiving from the crowd.

Thea knew that Felicity was used to this kind of treatment before the accident, but now she was living her second life where she is not used to being the spirit of the party.

Diggle came towards them held his hand for them to take.

"Where is Ollie?" Thea asked him.

"He is talking to Mr. Anatoly in the study room. He'll be here in a few minutes." Diggle answered.

"Oh, Uncle Anatoly is here…. Oh, Felicity you'll like him. He is so kind and funny." Thea turned to Felicity and said.

Felicity didn't say anything but she was definitely distracted by someone entering the room from the other side. Thea didn't have to guess who is coming.

She turned towards the object of Felicity's attention and met with the immaculate presence of her brother. Oliver was standing on his own. He was more and more exercising and walking these days. He was still talking to Anatoly and didn't notice eyes on him.

Thea waited patiently and saw Oliver raising his head as if he felt the attention on him and his eyes wandering around the room and stopping at them.

She could tell the exact moment he saw Felicity. Oliver's eyes widened and his mouth opened a little as if he has stopped breathing. He stared at her. Thea looked at the gorgeous woman beside her who was captivated Oliver's gaze as much as he was hers.

Felicity stared at the man who was spellbound by her.

Oliver walked towards them as if he was entranced.

When he got near, Diggle coughed and Felicity flinched out of the trance. She turned deep red and gave them a nervous smile.

Oliver came to them and took Thea's hand.

"You have done an exceptional job Thea. The party is amazing. I didn't think that you'll invite Anatoly too. He is waiting to meet you." Oliver said to her without meeting Felicity's eyes.

Thea smiled to herself.

"Of course, Ollie. I'll talk to him. Actually I have to introduce Diggle to Anatoly. I'm sure they will bond over their fondness for Raisa's cooking. Why don't you wait with Felicity while I do just that?" Thea gave herself a high five in her mind for being this good and turned to leave towards their Russian family friend.

That's when she heard Oliver's gasp.

She turned and Oliver was staring at Felicity. This time specifically at her earrings. Thea saw the way Oliver's eyes narrowing and she can feel the tension in the room rising. Felicity was staring at him obvious to the war inside Oliver's head.

Thea knew that this was coming. Actually she planned for it. She wanted Oliver to see how perfect it is. His chosen earrings on Felicity's ears.

What Thea didn't expect was the rage she witnessed in Oliver's eyes when he turned to face her.

"Ollie…" Thea tried.

"What did you do Thea?" Oliver's voice was flat and emotionless.

"I…"

"Why did you do that?" He asked again. This time a flare of anger in his tone.

"I don't know…"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about Thea." Oliver growled. Thea glanced at Felicity and saw her watching the exchange in confusion.

"Ollie, stop. You are making a scene. It's nothing. Just let it go." Thea said. She wanted Oliver to see it. But she didn't expect him to be this mad at it. She wanted him to feel.

"You have no business in doing what you did, Thea. I told you to stay out of it. Why don't you understand that it is never going to happen?" Oliver was mad beyond words.

May be this was a bad idea. Thea realized. But why does Oliver want to make a scene about that? And she wasn't going to stay out of it and watch his life leaving through his fingers. He was her brother. Of course she would do anything to make this right and she knew that he would do the same for her.

"What are you two talking about?" Felicity asked from the siblings who were glaring at each other.

Oliver didn't even look at her and growled again in a low voice.

"You are not supposed to give that to her."

"Why? Because you bought it for the woman you love and never gave it to her? Why shouldn't I give that to Felicity?" Thea hissed in a voice rivaled his.

"What?" Felicity gasped.

Thea watched Felicity processing what she heard and she could pin point the moment she got the meaning of Oliver's words.

"I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have worn something that not belongs to me. That belongs to Sara. Especially when she is in hospital, struggling for her life. I'm sorry Oliver, I didn't know. I… I'm really sorry."

Felicity's eyes were filled with tears when she apologized quickly and turned away and ran through the grand ballroom to the outside, without caring for Thea's calling her name.

"Felicity, stop please. This is a mess. It's not what you are thinking. Please." Thea tried to follow the blonde but Felicity was quick on her feet.

Thea was angry beyond limits at Oliver. Of course he had to ruin this for Felicity. And he didn't even try to explain the situation to her. He just stood there as a frozen sculpture when Felicity took flight.

She went to Oliver again and glared at him.

"I was trying to solve this mess as much as possible, Ollie. Felicity is in love with you. Yes, you dumbass, she loves you. And I wanted you to see that she is ready for you to try woo her again and to receive that matching emerald ring that you carried with you for one whole year, one day. This is her second chance at life and your second chance at happiness Ollie. I was trying to pave the path to that, but you had to ruin it all by yourself." She spat and left the ballroom.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 14 – Oliver's POV

Oliver knew that he screwed it. He could see that clearly by the way he saw Felicity's blue eyes filling with tears. He felt his heart breaking inside his chest. Her face paled shade by shade and he was responsible for that.

Oliver was angry. He was angry at Thea for trying to take things into her hands. He was angry at himself for not solving this in a calm manner, not hurting Felicity.

But, dear god, when he saw that emerald earrings on her ears, he lost it. How long did he imagine her wearing them ideally with a matching ring on her left hand? The emerald ring he bought for her, and carried in his pocket for a long time. Even after she married someone else Oliver couldn't throw away the wretched ring. It was his bane. It was his talisman.

And he meant what he told Thea.

' _ **She'**_ was not supposed to give those earrings to Felicity. It should be him, who gives that to her. It was his right.

Thea should have stayed away from it.

And now, Felicity has left the party and Thea was ignoring him. The party was finished for Oliver. And if what Thea told him were true, then may be his future and the hope of being with Felicity was also over.

Oliver still couldn't fully comprehend what Thea said.

Did she say that Felicity loved him? That she was in love with him. Can it be true? Can it happen?

Oh my god! What did I do? Oliver thought to himself.

He wanted to go after Felicity. But his feet were glued to the floor. How can he console Felicity without giving himself out?

Thea made it seem so easy to talk to Felicity and revealing his feelings to her. But this was not as easy or simple as she thought. No, it was not. How can he go to Felicity and tell her that he also loved her? That he was in love with her from the first moment he saw her, a few years ago. And how can he tell her that she has once rejected him?

When is he going to tell her the real situation of their accident? Or would he ever? What will happen if he did? Or if he didn't? What would she think when she got to know that he was a killer?

Would she still love him when she got to know that he had killed her husband and her unborn child?

This was not simple as Thea says. It's too complicated.

…

Oliver left the party after two hours. He told the guests that he was tired and left for his room. Thea being the gracious host she is entertained the party. Diggle and Raisa were having a great time with Anatoly and his family.

Oliver went to his room and changed into his night clothes. He went to his window and checked Felicity's room out of it. The lights were off. May be she would be sleeping, Oliver thought. Or did she cry to her sleep? He wanted so badly to go there and check on her. But he hesitated. She wouldn't want him there. Instead he arranged a food plate delivered to her room.

After a few hours Oliver heard the party winding and heard Thea's excited voice and Diggle's tired night greeting outside his door.

Thea called him and Oliver contemplated the choice of not opening the door and pretending to be asleep.

"Ollie, I know you are not asleep. Open the door. I want to talk to you." Thea called.

Oliver sighed and opened the door. Thea looked tired and weary. She entered the room and sat on his couch. Oliver sat on the bed and waited for her to start.

"I went to check on her. She didn't open the door." Thea said.

"I screwed it up. Didn't I?" Oliver asked. He had hurt her beyond the line.

Thea sighed.

"Oh, Ollie… I don't know what to do anymore to help you. She was so excited tonight. I so wanted her to enjoy the party. I know I did wrong. I know I overstepped my line, but I just wanted you to see how much it suited her. I wanted you to remember how you wanted her to wear that. I didn't think that it would make you that mad. I'm sorry. I'm the one who screwed up for you." Thea said, her voice reflecting her regret.

"Don't speedy. It's not your fault. It's mine. I shouldn't have made a scene and shout at her. She was hurt because of me. I just lost it when I saw them on her. How many times have I wanted to give that to her?" Oliver said.

"Do you still have that ring Oliie?" Thea asked.

Oliver sighed and stood up from the bed. He went to his bedside drawer and opened it to take out the small velvet square box which held the emerald ring.

Thea gasped.

"You have it here? Oh Ollie…"

Oliver didn't say anything and remembered the number of times he had it in his pockets and carried out wherever he went. He couldn't count the number. He was attached to the ring. Still he is.

"Did you mean what you said at the party, Thea?" Oliver asked.

"What?"

"That Felicity loved me…" Oliver didn't want to hope but couldn't help but ask.

"She does Ollie. But she thinks that you are in love with Sara. I know that it's my fault. I was the one who insinuated that you two were a couple. But I thought you would deny it and explain the truth to Felicity. But, you haven't and she thinks that she was doing something wrong by having feelings for you. You need to talk to her Ollie. You both are hurting and there is a very simple way to put both of you out of misery." Thea said.

"It's not that simple Thea. What am I supposed to tell her? That I had fell for her long time ago? That I loved her since the first day I saw her? Or that I proposed to her and she rejected me? How can I explain to her that she was happily married and had a wonderful family until my car crashed into hers? How can I tell her that that accident killed her husband, the man she loved, the man she rejected me for? That she lost her unborn baby because of me? On what earth is this simple, Thea? It's not. It's not simple at all." Oliver asked her.

Thea touched his arm affectionately.

"Ollie, I know that it is not a straight line path. But you have to give her the chance to decide what to do with her life. Felicity may not have fallen in love with you the first time. But she was your friend. She liked you then too, but she was bound to someone else and she didn't want to break her promises and betray the man who loved her for years. And you were hurt. But now she has fallen in love with you. If you stepped down now you'll be putting her through the same pain you went through. And unlike the accident, this will be you doing it." Thea's words touched him to the core.

How could he put Felicity in that position? She had gone through a lot and he didn't want to hurt anymore.

"What can I do now, Thea? She won't even talk to me after what happened tonight." Oliver said.

Thea sighed.

"Let's talk to her tomorrow, Ollie. She will be calmed down then and you can go and talk to her. Just give her a chance to decide it for herself."

Oliver nodded in acknowledgement of her suggestion and Thea left the room.

…

Oliver waited till Raisa come from Felicity's room after taking the breakfast for her. He was waiting in the front yard of the house. Raisa saw Oliver and gave him an encouraging smile.

He took a deep breath and entered the house.

It was still a bit hard for him to take stairs, but he managed the steps to Felicity's room nevertheless.

"Felicity…" He called her name outside the door of her room.

There was total silence from the room and Oliver tried again.

"Felicity…"

There was a pause again and then there was shuffling of slippers and sound of steps to the door.

After a few seconds, the door opened slowly. Oliver waited without entering and Felicity had again stepped into the room after opening the door.

"Can I come in?" Oliver asked her at the door.

She was not looking at him rather turning her backside to him. But she nodded slightly and Oliver took that as an invitation and entered the room.

Felicity was waiting for him to talk and Oliver didn't know where to start.

"I'm sorry…" He apologized in a sincere voice.

"It's okay…" Her soft voice didn't betray the hurt feelings she was trying best to hide. But Oliver was tuned to her words and the unsaid words.

"No, it's not…" Oliver returned.

She was silent again.

Oliver took a step towards her and Felicity took a step back even though she was still hadn't turned to him.

"I want to explain some things to you. And I need you to listen to me." Oliver ignored the pang of hurt that went through his heart when she stepped away from him.

"You don't have to give me excuses. I get it. You are not interested and it's really okay. I'll be fine." Felicity said.

"I'm not giving excuses and no Felicity, it's not like that. I… I like you… I really do… you just… you don't know how much… But… But there is something I need to tell you before… I want you to know everything before you take a decision… and after you hear me out, I'll accept any decision you take… I hope for the best, but I won't blame you if you didn't want me near you anymore." Oliver wanted to tell her everything. To relieve this burden out of his heart for once.

"What…" Felicity's question was interrupted by a quick tap on the door and Diggle entered the room. He looked rushed.

"Oliver, you need to go to the hospital now." Diggle said hurriedly.

Oliver tensed and Felicity turned her face towards both of them, watching for any clue to the emergency in Diggle's voice.

"It's Sara." Diggle continued.

"She's awake."

Oliver felt his breath leaving his lungs.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 15 – Felicity's POV

Oliver was going to tell something to her and got interrupted by Diggle. Sara has woken up from her coma. Of course Oliver must leave for the hospital. Sara will be confused and scared after being unconscious for nearly two months and would want the man she's in love with beside her.

There was nothing for Felicity to be upset over but she was. Felicity was very upset that Oliver left her for Sara.

She knew that it was unfair to Oliver but she was angry with him. How dare he gives her hopes and break them again and again… When he entered her room and told her that he wants to talk to her, he said that he wanted her to know everything. What was he talking about? Was he going to admit that he had fallen in love with her? While Sara was in a coma? And what does that say about him? Or was he going to tell her that he knew about her feelings about him and didn't reciprocate them? Was he going to explain her that he was in love with someone else? What was he going to tell her? The curiosity was killing her.

But he told you that he likes you. Felicity's heart whispered to her. But he didn't tell you that he loves you. Her mind reminded back.

Oh… this was pure torture…

And what will happen now that Sara is awake? Will Oliver ever continue their interrupted discussion? Or will he let it go and pretend like that didn't happen? Felicity didn't know about Sara. She simply didn't know her. What is she like? Is she a kind person? Will she realize Felicity's feelings for her boyfriend?

And Sara is supposed to be her step sister someday.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her phone. It was her mother.

"Mom…" She answered.

"Hey Lizz, are you on the way? Sara is awake… Are you coming to the hospital with Oliver?" Her mom went on one breath.

Felicity waited until Donna calmed down to reply.

"Yes, mom… I know Sara is awake. But I'm not coming there with Oliver. He left as soon as he got the news. I'll be there in the evening, when Digg comes home." She said.

"Oh.. okay baby. I just wanted you to know that Laurel will be coming here, since Sara is awake. So, If you are going to be there, give me a call when she arrives." Donna said.

"Of course mom…" Felicity replied and hung the phone.

….

It was ten past five in the evening when Felicity entered the hospital. It was an old looking building from the outside but the inside was completely modernized with latest technology. She found it a bit ironic since she was the same. Being 25 years old but having only 02 months of memories, she felt like she was trapped inside an old life of somebody else.

Felicity had visited Sara a few times in her hospital room and knew the passages which led to the room. But she felt nervous because at each and every time, Sara was unconscious and now for the first time she was awake. Felicity didn't know how to prepare for the blonde woman who had an angelic look while in coma.

And Oliver will be there…

He hadn't come home from hospital and Felicity was sure that he was going to stay tonight there with Sara. Why wouldn't he? His girlfriend had awoken from a few weeks of sleep and he must be anxious to not leave her alone after a long separation.

What wouldn't she give to have someone to be waiting for her when she woke up from her accident?

Felicity stopped right in front of the room and took a deep breath before knocking.

Before she knocked again, the door opened and Oliver stood in front of her. When he saw her, his face fell and he quickly recovered and let her in.

Does he not want me to meet Sara? Felicity thought to herself.

"Sara… You can remember Felicity, right?" Oliver asked from the blonde who was sitting on the bed, having a soup fed to her by Donna.

Sara watched Felicity for a few seconds and her face broke into a huge smile.

"Oh my god… Felicity…! How are you here? Donna, you didn't tell me that Felicity was here. Oh.. Where is your…" She was interrupted by Donna.

"I wanted to keep it a surprise, Sara… Felicity is here to get healed too. We came to Russia with Oliver and Thea, so she could have some rest and get back to her old self."

Sara looked honestly happy to see Felicity. But she frowned at Donna's words.

"To get healed?" she asked them.

"Umm… Sara, Felicity was also injured by our accident. She was in the other car with which we collided." Oliver told her. Felicity watched Oliver carefully. He was avoiding her gaze. He looked as if he was just ready to bolt out of the room.

"Oh… I… I.. caused this much damage… in my stubbornness." Sara's face fell and it didn't feel right to Felicity.

"No, you didn't. It was an accident… And you lost more things than me in that.. I came out of it with a few injuries and a case of amnesia. But you were in the edge of death… You could have lost your life…" Felicity consoled her.

She felt Oliver stiffening with her words and suddenly the temperature of the room seemed to drop by a few degrees.

"Why don't I bring you a coffee, Donna? You and Felicity can tell Sara about your experience here in Russia. I'll be there in a few minutes." Oliver turned to them and told them in a rush. Then he left the room with quick steps.

Felicity knew by her heart that Oliver was running away from her. And this time she was not going to let him do that to her…

"Umm…Actually, I didn't have lunch today and I think I better follow Oliver and find the food corner here and have something to eat. It took a bit long journey here than I thought."

Felicity knew it was a poor excuse and by the way Donna and Sara nodded their heads in unison made her think that they knew exactly she was going to talk to Oliver. But she didn't care. She had to confront Oliver.. That was her priority at the moment.

She found him sitting on a bench at the hospital garden. It took her a bit time because she searched for him at the food corner and he was not there as he said he would be heading to. So she wondered around a bit and saw through a window that he was sitting in the garden.

Felicity went to Oliver. He was staring to the space. His face had a haunted look with his sad eyes.

He raised his head and looked at her with the sound of her steps and stiffened his back.

Felicity thought that maybe he would leave from there, but he didn't. He moved from the center of the bench and made enough space for her to sit instead.

"I looked for you in the food corner." She sat beside him and said.

"I changed my mind." He again looked away and told her.

"Did you change your mind about what you were going to tell me in the morning too?" Felicity didn't see any reason to stall away from the previously interrupted discussion.

"No… I didn't…" He replied. She sensed that there was a 'but' in there though.

"But…" She prompted him.

"But, I'm afraid of your reaction at the moment." Oliver told her.

"Oliver…"

"I'm afraid that you'll hate me after that." He continued.

Felicity sighed. They were never going to make it there. If she stayed silent now, Oliver would never tell her what's in his heart. So she took a deep breath and took the first step out of line.

"Look, Oliver… I know that I have made a fool of myself in front of you. But I can't help it. I can't act like I don't feel what I feel for you. I can't turn it off. So, I'm going to suck it up and put everything in front of you." Oliver watched her without disturbing her.

"I love you…" Okay, there she said it. out loud….


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 16 – Oliver's POV**

He felt all the air leaving his lungs…

'I love you'… The words that left her lips burned him…

Yes, he longed for those words for a long time. But now, when she finally uttered those three words, Oliver's world fell down to his feet.

He wanted to relish that feeling… Hearing the love in her voice… But he couldn't. Because deep down in his heart, he knew that he didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve her love or any affection from her… But oh, god… How much he desired to hear those words from her lips…

She was waiting for his response and all Oliver could do was close his eyes and let a grunt out.

This was not supposed to happen…

Yes, he had dreamed that one day she would fall in love with him and reciprocate the feelings he had for her since the first time he saw her. But not like this… No… Never…

"Oliver…" Her voice reached his ears and he opened his eyes….

Felicity was staring at him. Her teeth nagging her bottom lip and her eyes full of expectations.

"You can't love me…" He couldn't stop himself.

"Why? Because you are in love with someone else? Because you are Sara's boyfriend?" She asked him.

"No, I'm not in love with someone else. I have only loved one woman in my life, Felicity. And that's definitely not Sara… She's not my girlfriend."

Oliver didn't want to hide anything from her anymore. This had gone too far now and he wanted to be released from this burden. If Felicity knew the whole truth, she will understand why he is doing what he is doing.

She was looking at him with a frown now.

"Then, why did you tell me that she was your girlfriend? No, wait. You didn't tell me that. It was Thea… But why would Thea say something like that to me?" She was mostly voicing out her inner ramble without even knowing that she was doing it.

"Thea thought that it would make you feel something for me. She was trying to get a reaction from you." Oliver replied her.

"But, why? Why would she want me to feel for you? Unless…" She trailed her words and her eyes ran to him. Oliver watched as the realization dawned on her and completed her sentence.

"…Unless I had feelings for you too…"

"But you just said that you had loved only one woman in your life and… Oliver, were you in love with me before the accident?" Felicity asked him.

Oliver knew that this was a now or never situation. He couldn't lie to her anymore.

"I was in love with you for two years Felicity. Since I saw you for the first time, when you were having an argument with the head of my IT Department." Oliver said.

Her eyes shined with wetness and her lips curved with a beautiful smile.

"So, what is the problem here, Oliver? Wait, did we date before? Were we on a break or did we break up before the accident? Is that why you avoided me?" Felicity threw several questions at him. It was so typical Felicity. If he wasn't in middle of this mess, that would have certainly bring a smile to his face.

"No, you were not in love with me, Felicity." Oliver replied.

Felicity's facial expression changed into a confusing look. She looked as if she couldn't comprehend his words.

"Are you telling me that I knew you from before, like two years ago and were friends with you, but never looked at you in a romantic way?"

Oliver nodded in agreement.

"No way… Are you sure that I had no feelings for you then, Oliver? I mean, are you 100% sure? May be I was in love with you but never had the courage to tell you.. and if you also never told me that you loved me… May be…"

Oliver interrupted her ramble. He couldn't let her go on and on with what ifs and may be's.

"You never felt anything like that for me Felicity. And I did tell you how I felt and you rejected me, twice actually."

"But… but… How… Why..?"

Felicity was staring at him as if she couldn't believe that her former self had rejected him.

"You were already in love with another guy, Felicity. I'm not proud of the fact that even after knowing about your relationship, I came after you. I refused to give up and I tried to steal you from him. You were so disgusted with me that you even refused to see me."

Felicity was shaking her head in refusal. As if she couldn't imagine him being a nuisance to her.

"Who was I in love with? If I loved someone else, why isn't he here for me? Where is my supposed lover?" Felicity questioned him. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears. Her voice was trembling with uncertainty.

Oliver couldn't make his lips open. How can he tell her that the man she loved was not with her here today because he was dead, in the accident for which he was responsible?

"Your husband died from that accident, Felicity. He is not here because he isn't alive."

Oliver and Felicity both turned to the female voice came from the corridor.

Sara was there sitting on a wheelchair, Donna standing behind her. They were slowly coming towards Oliver and Felicity.

Oliver turned to Felicity, who was shaking her head in denial.

"No… No… what are you talking about Sara? No. I am not married. I don't have a husband. No…"

"Felicity…" Donna stepped away from Sara and tried to console her daughter. But Felicity took a step back, still shaking her head.

"No.. no.." She kept saying.

"Felicity…" Oliver tried to touch her and she took another step away from him. Oliver felt as if she punched him in the face.

"How is this possible? Why? I… I don't get it mom…" Felicity told her mother who finally closed the gap between them and hugged her.

"I know darling… I know… We didn't want you to suffer. That's why we didn't tell you… I'm sorry…" Donna whispered.

"But… but… How… How did Oliver…?"

Oliver couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't see her crying. He couldn't bear her broken voice. He couldn't be there and not take her into his arms. Oliver turned to leave. He didn't want to see hatred for him in her eyes. And that is what he is going to receive from her when she gets to know the truth.

"Ollie… I'm sorry…"

Sara told him when he walked passed her. He just nodded at her once and left the hospital without having any destination.


End file.
